


Baby Boy

by Wheres_my_badger



Series: Little Adventures [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Age Play, Angst, But You Get It, Fluff, I may add more tags, I'm still not sure about that, Kihyun doesn't want to accept it, M/M, Never done this before, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifiers, SO, So yeah, Teddy Bears, all of those things, and maybe relationships, be warned, but I've only found one story like this, embarrassed Kihyun, hyungwonho yey!, later though, little minhyuk, little!kihyun, maybe shown/minhyuk?, ok, or maybe middle minhyuk, since he's older, the other boys are caregivers, the others help him, this is gonna be really soft and cute, turns out there's angst, ya know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-27 22:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 81,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wheres_my_badger/pseuds/Wheres_my_badger
Summary: Kihyun doesn't want to admit it. He doesn't even want to acknowledge it. But just because he doesn't want, doesn't mean he's not going to have to. Lucky for him, his members are there to help.ORKihyun is a little and keeps falling on little space, only to beat himself up for it later. But it'll be ok, because he has the best friends in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo! Hello, everyone! Been a while, uh? Sorry, I've been busy af with university and stuff. Well, so, this. This is my first time writing stuff like this, so I'm not too sure about it? Feedback is appreciated!!! Anyways, hope you like it ^.^
> 
>  
> 
> Also: these won't be exactly chronological. More like each chapter is it's own little story, but they are all connected
> 
> I take requests for fanfictions at the link https://booksfanficsandstuff.tumblr.com or in the comments section, the groups I write for are in my profile ^.^

Kihyun didn’t know how he had ended up with the role of ‘mom’ in Monsta X. It made no sense, at all. Even his members said, in that damned interview, that Kihyun was the one who acted the most like a baby – and there was a reason for that, but Kihyun would rather die than to let the others know about that –, so it really baffled him that he was one of the parental figures in the group.

Or maybe it did make sense. Because there was a side of him that he hated and worked hard to suffocate and hide as it embarrassed him to no end. And maybe, amidst trying to hide it, he’d taken the exact opposite role than the one he wanted – although he’d never admit to wanting it – to perform. So yeah, maybe it made sense.

The fact was that although he liked the way the members trusted him and went to him for help, it wasn’t really what Kihyun wanted. Kihyun wanted… he wanted to be taken care of and to be looked after, not to be the one looking after the others. And this made him feel even worse, because it was a selfish thought. And so Kihyun continued playing his role, pretending that he was ok.

 

The thing is, though, that Kihyun was weak.

When he had found out about this whole… thing, years earlier, he’d promised himself he would never indulge in it. It was weird. It was creepy. It wasn’t normal. And in his mind, he convinced himself that if he just ignored it for long enough, it would go way. His resolution didn’t last long.

Kihyun could still remember the day he’d bought a pacifier for the first time. He remembered blushing as he eyed all of the options of adult sized pacifiers, before finally settling for a light pink one with little silver stars all over it and ordering it. He remembered how he’d tried too hard to act casual when he received the package, how he’d felt embarrassed and nervous, even though there was no way the others would know what was inside the box.

He had felt so awful after buying it that he threw the pacifier in one of his drawers, the one that had a lock, and pretended it didn’t exist for over a month. He’d sometimes eye the drawer, unable to forget the little plastic thing that was locked inside, but the embarrassment was bigger than his want, so in the end he always looked away.

Kihyun also remembered the first time he’d used it. They were preparing for their comeback and he was so tired, and so stressed, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up on a ball and forget the world. He remembered telling the members he was sick, which they easily believed, because Kihyun probably looked like a zombie. He remembered getting home and heading straight to his room, taking out the pacifier and staring at it for almost an hour before finally putting it in his mouth.

It had felt so good. The effect had been instantaneous, and after less than a minute sucking on it, Kihyun could already feel his shoulder getting lighter. He remembered searching through the presents fans gave them and choosing the softest teddy bear he could find, before snuggling with it in his bed and instantly falling asleep.

Kihyun had been lucky, so lucky, on that first time. He woke up hours later, feeling warm and well rested. The teddy bear felt so soft in his arms and the pacifier made him feel good and safe. He lay in bed for a total of two minutes after waking up, before his eyes widened and he understood what had happened.

He felt tears welling up in his eyes and took the pacifier out of his mouth, shoving it away along with the teddy bear. He put his head between his knees, trying to breath in deeply. He’d gone into little space. He’d promised himself he’d never do that, what was he thinking, buying and using a pacifier?

He managed not to cry – that would only shove him back into little space –, controlling himself and putting the pacifier back into the drawer without even looking at it. He took the teddy bear back to the pile of fan gifts and left it there heading back to his bed and searching for some action movie for him to watch while he waited for the others to come back.

That night, the others commented on how much better Kihyun looked. That night, Kihyun fell asleep fighting the urge to get his pacifier and suck on it to help himself fall asleep.

 

After that first time, Kihyun slipped three more times. It was a push and pull motion. He would get so stressed that he ended up slipping. Going into little space made him relax and forget about his worries and problems for a while. And so, when he went back to his adult headspace, the embarrassment and fear came crashing back and he vowed to never go into little space again. And this promise lasted until the next time he slipped. And thus the cycle started again. Kihyun had the vague idea that it was quite unhealthy. But he didn’t see how to change it.

He learned a bit about himself. He put his little age – he hated to think about it, but sometimes his brain did things without his consent – somewhere between three and five years old. That thought always made him blush. He’d read somewhere that there were older littles, littles that were 10, 11 or even older. Why did he have to be a little kid, who liked pacifiers and stuffed toys and… well, he’d rather stop there.

He’d also vowed to do everything to protect his secret. The members couldn’t know about this. He didn’t accept that part of him, so why would they?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think??


	2. How Hoseok Found Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important!! If you guys have requests for things to happen in this fanfiction tell me in the comment and I'll (try to) write it! So, let's say you want a chapter where Kihyun gets lost while in little space, all you gotta do is request ^.^  
> Anyways, here's the next chapter.

Kihyun should have known that his luck would run out. He’d been going into little space at random times – although it was never an accident – and luckily the others had never been around to witness it. But it was only a matter of time before one of them found out. He definitely should have known.

 

Kihyun knew it was risky. The others wouldn’t stay out for too long, he didn’t have much time. But… but he was so stressed, and he’d made the mistake of opening that damned drawer to get his lyrics notebook, and then his fingers had brushed against his… against the pacifier and just that had already sent him half way to little space. And so, it was getting really hard for him to choose the logical option. Which was closing the drawer and ignoring his little side that wanted to get out so badly.

Kihyun bit his lip. The fact that he hadn’t gone into little space for so long wasn’t really helping. He closed his hand around the pacifier. ‘You can’t do this. It’s not normal, you should just throw this thing away’ the still rational part of his brain said. Unfortunately, that side was much smaller than the side screaming ‘Take it! It’ll make you feel much better!’. Kihyun took the pacifier out.

Kihyun had read somewhere that some people need to focus a lot to get into little space. It wasn’t his case. As soon as the pacifier touched his lips Kihyun was already sucking on it, looking for more comfortable clothes and something fun to do. They had recently been given the onesies they’d used to shoot Monbebe Safari, and now Kihyun was trying to put it on, giggling at how cute and soft the onesie was. Once he managed to get dressed he looked around, spotting a plush toy on Jooheon’s bed. He smiled and made his way to it, picking up the teddy bear.

Kihyun didn’t have anything for his little self, save for his pacifier – and now the onesie – because he already felt bad enough for buying a pacifier. So whenever he found something for sale while not in headspace he quickly closed the tab he’d been browsing, to avoid any more impulsive decisions, which he’d regret later.

When in little space, though, he often found himself bored, not having anything to entertain himself with. Sometimes he took fan gifts, but most weren’t appropriate for his little age. Sometimes he took teddy bears – his or others’ –, but there was only so much he could do with only a plush toy. And generally it wasn’t much of a problem, because he was usually tired when in little space – it was one of the factors that made him fall into little space after all – and didn’t want to do much other than snuggle with a soft toy and sleep.

But not today. Today he felt like doing something fun, and as he couldn’t find anything in the room, he decided to explore the rest of the house. He should have known better than to walk out of his room. He’d never done that before. But in his carefree state, he didn’t even think about that. He was bored. He wanted to play. The first place Kihyun headed to was the kitchen.

 

“Are you hungwy, Boots?”

He asked the bear once he entered the kitchen, the pacifier worsening his lisp. He made the bear nod and giggled, before skipping to the cupboard above the stove.

Now, Kihyun was a great cook. But that was big Kihyun. Little Kihyun found the rice package and poured a bit into a cup, ignoring the fact that half of it fell on the floor. He then threw some seasoning on the rice and put water on the mix before mixing it all. The result was a very brightly coloured uncooked rice ‘soup’. The boy giggled.

“Here, Boots, twy it.” He said, play-feeding the bear. “Tasty, isn’t it? Eat evewything! I’ll cook more.”

And after fifteen minutes the kitchen was a mess and so were Kihyun’s clothes and face. Not that the boy cared. He was having a lot of fun.

After he was done cooking, Kihyun took the teddy bear and roamed the dorm after something to do. His eyes settled on the TV.

“Boots, d’you want to watch TV?” He asked, before dragging the bear with him to the sofa. He sat down and frowned. “Wait here.”

He said, before running to his room. He grabbed his softest blanket and ran back, sitting once again on the sofa and turning on the TV. He flipped through the channels until something bright came on. His eyes widened. It was Pororo. Kihyun clapped and covered himself, hugging the bear close to his chest. And before he knew it, he was asleep.

 

When Hoseok got home, he was surprised to hear the TV on. He entered the house, wondering who was already back, before he stopped, dead on his tracks and stared, mouth hanging open. Lying on the couch, with a teddy bear on his hands and a pacifier on his mouth, was Kihyun. Hoseok’s eyes turned to the TV. There was some cartoon playing. His mind tried to make sense of what was going on.

Shaking his head, he decided to do one thing at a time. He headed to his room, leaving his bag there and changing into more comfortable clothes. He knew he’d have to confront Kihyun, but he had the feeling it was going to be a very delicate conversation, and he wanted to do it as calm and comfortable as possible.

Then he headed to the kitchen, to grab some water, only to be met with a huge mess. Still a bit in shock, the boy proceeded to clean everything up. It was better if the others didn’t find it like that. And once everything was cleaned, he headed to the living room, turning off the TV and kneeling in front of Kihyun.

He almost cooed at how cute the younger looked, hugging the toy tightly and sucking on a pacifier. And taking a look at the boy’s face, Hoseok was pretty sure he knew where half of their seasoning had gone. He sighed. He had a feeling the following talk would be anything but pleasant.

He shook Kihyun softly.

“Hyunnie. Kihyunnie. Wake up, baby, c’mon.”

He should have known they wouldn't be talking much that night.

 

Kihyun was slowly brought back to reality by the soft voice calling him. He blinked a few times, trying to understand what was going on, before his eyes finally focused and he saw Hoseok, sitting in front of him. For a second, his mind was blank. And then his eyes widened and he sat up, the teddy bear he’d been holding falling to the ground and his pacifier being spat out.

“Hyung! I-I…”

He said, trying to stay on his adult headspace and to think up a plausible excuse. It was hard, though, with how scared he was, and soon he felt tears welling up in his eyes and began crying. Hoseok was stunned, but seeing Kihyun cry quickly took him out of his stupor. He got up and sat on the couch, pulling the younger into a hug. It was what took to push Kihyun back into headspace, although Hoseok didn’t know that.

“Hey, shh, it’s ok, baby, don’t cry. It’s ok. Shh, I’m here, you’re ok.”

Kihyun continued to cry, but buried his face on Hoseok’s chest, which the older counted as a win. Carefully, he moved and got the pacifier that was forgotten on the couch. He didn’t know if this was the best option, but he couldn’t think of anything else to calm the boy down/ He gently pressed it against Kihyun’s lips, cooing internally as the boy willingly opened his mouth, taking it and sucking on it.

“It’s ok, Kihyunnie. Don’t worry.”

They stayed like that for almost ten minutes, as Kihyun slowly stopped crying. When he was only letting out occasional sniffles, Hoseok pulled away to look at the boy, although he kept a hand protectively on the boy’s waist. Kihyun looked at him for a second, before blushing and looking down.

“Kihyunnie…”

Started Hoseok, but the younger interrupted him.

“Pwease don’t hate Kiyunnie.”

He whined, rubbing his eyes with the hand that wasn’t clutching the older’s shirt. Hoseok’s heart broke. He looked at Kihyun’s eyes, at the way he was looking at Hoseok almost as if he was begging the older to accept him.

“Oh, Kihyunnie, I would never hate you, baby. I love you so much, how could I ever hate you?”

Kihyun sniffed.

“Kiyunnie weird.”

He mumbled, sniffing again. Hoseok’s hand squeezed the younger’s waist.

“No, Kihyunnie, you’re perfect just as you are. Trust your hyung, ok?” Kihyun was still pouting, but he nodded. “I’ll tell you what, how about we get you something to eat and then we can get you cleaned and go watch some cartoons on my computer?”

Kihyun seemed to think for a bit, pacifier bobbing on his mouth.

“Can Boots come?”

He asked, finally. Hoseok took a second to understand that the boy was talking about the teddy bear on the floor. He smiled.

“Of course he can! Now let’s go.”

 

They ended up eating bread with cheese and bananas, because Hoseok didn’t know how much time they had before the others were back, and he didn’t think Kihyun wanted the others to know about… well, whatever that was. So they ate sandwiches, which Kihyun seemed to love, giggling when Hoseok fed him.

It was honestly adorable. Hoseok didn’t exactly understand what this thing was, but Kihyun looked absolutely adorable, and Hoseok just wanted to squish him. He intended to tell that to Kihyun, eventually, although he probably shouldn’t word it like that.

After eating, Hoseok took Kihyun to the bathroom. He left to get some clothes, because Kihyun’s were ruined from the boy’s kitchen adventure, and then went back, smiling as he found Kihyun playing quietly with the bear.

“Kihyunnie, can you stand up, please?”

He asked. The boy quickly obeyed, making sure the bear was sitting comfortably before turning to Hoseok. The older bit his cheek to keep himself from cooing at every step the younger took. He then proceeded to undress Kihyun and wipe his face with a wet towel until he was clean. He dried the boy, who giggled as the towel covered his face, making Hoseok laugh and cover him a few more times before proceeding to dress the boy again.

Once he was done, he looked at Kihyun. He’d given the boy some sweatpants and one of his own hoodies. It was an old one, extremely soft and slightly big on Hoseok. Which meant Kihyun was practically swimming in it. It was adorable.

“Ok, baby, all done. Now what do you say we watch some cartoons?”

Kihyun almost dragged Hoseok to the older’s room. The boy skipped to the bed, jumping on it and giggling. Hoseok smiled.

“So, what do you want to watch?”

He asked.

“Pororo!”

Was Kihyun’s immediate answer. Hoseok giggled, before searching a Pororo episode and putting it on. Kihyun smiled and got comfortable on the bed. Hoseok lay by his side, watching the cute expressions the younger made at the cartoon. Half way through the first episode, Hoseok noticed Kihyun putting his thumb in his mouth. His eyes widened. He’d forgotten Kihyun’s pacifier on the kitchen.

“Kihyunnie, I’ll be right back, ok? Be good.” Kihyun looked away from the cartoon, looking at Hoseok with scared eyes. The older kissed his forehead. “Hey, don’t worry, I’ll be real quick, ok?”

The younger did nothing for a few seconds, then he nodded slightly and went back to watching the cartoon, tightening his grip on the teddy bear in his lap. The older rushed to the kitchen.

He was heading back to his room, pacifier in hand, when someone entered the dorm. He quickly stuffed the item on his pocket. It was Hyunwoo.

“Hyunwoo! Hey!”

He greeted, awkwardly. Thankfully, Hyunwoo was too busy trying to take off his shoes to notice the nervousness on Hoseok’s voice.

“Hey. I thought I was the first one in.”

He said, finally managing to take off his shoes. Hoseok shook his head.

“Actually, Ki is here already. He wasn’t feeling well and came home earlier.”

He lied. Hyunwoo frowned.

“Ki is sick?”

He asked, and Hoseok got an idea.

“No, I don’t think so. Just a bit under the weather. I made something for him and now he’s resting. Do you think you could sleep in his bed tonight? He kind of took yours…”

Said the boy. Hyunwoo rolled his eyes. 

“That little hamster… ok, tell him I hope he feels better soon.”

Hoseok smiled and nodded, and then waved at Hyunwoo, heading back to his room.

When Hoseok entered the room again, relieved to have escaped Hyunwoo, Kihyun immediately looked up, tensing, only to relax when he recognized Hoseok. The older moved over, sitting down and grabbing the boy’s wrist gently.

“Kihyunnie, it’s not good to suck on your thumb.” He said, pulling the boy’s thumb from his mouth. Kihyun looked at him, pouting, and Hoseok couldn’t help but to pinch his cheeks. “Here, you can have your pacifier.”

He said. The smile immediately came back to the younger’s face and he gladly accepted the pacifier, sighing as he sucked on it. His eyes moved back to the cartoon playing on the computer and Hoseok smiled at the boy. This really was adorable.

 

Kihyun ended up falling asleep halfway through the third episode. Hoseok carefully disentangled himself from the younger and picked up his computer, putting it somewhere where it wouldn’t be crushed. He then got up and moved Kihyun so the boy was lying more comfortably, before covering him and pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead. Kihyun sighed softly, turning in his sleep, pacifier still in his mouth. Hoseok barely kept himself from squealing at the cuteness.

Once he made sure the boy was ok he picked up his computer and moved to the other bed in the room. He should do some research.

 

Kihyun woke up to an alarm clock. He slowly blinked, completely confused. His memories from the previous night were fuzzy and he didn’t know where he was, although he was pretty sure he wasn’t in his own bed. He yawned, stretching his arms, and felt something fall from his mouth. He looked down. And then he remembered the previous night.

In panic he looked around, spotting Hoseok on the bed next to his, still asleep. Hoseok. Hoseok had seen. He knew. Kihyun’s breath picked up. He shoved the covers away, along with the pacifier and the teddy bear. He needed to get away. He needed to hide.

 

Hoseok woke up to the sound of an alarm clock and someone trashing around. He opened his eyes and rubbed them, trying to understand what was going on. His phone’s alarm clock was ringing. He turned it off, annoyed by all the noise, but even then there was something else. He turned to the side, sitting up, and the he understood.

Kihyun was trying to get out of bed, but in his panicked state he was getting more tangled than anything else. Hoseok guessed the younger wasn’t in what he believed was ‘little space’ – he did his research – anymore. He quickly got up and walked to Kihyun.

“Ki. Hey, calm down. It’s ok, just breathe.”

He said, starting to disentangle the younger from the sheets. Kihyun stilled at his voice. Hoseok continued to talk calmly.

“It’s ok. You’re ok. Breathe with me, c’mon.”

He said, counting his breaths. Soon Kihyun followed, and Hoseok would have sighed in relief if he weren’t busy pacing his breathing for the younger.

Once Kihyun managed to calm down he pulled his legs up, hugging them. Hoseok put a hand on his shoulder and the boy flinched. Hoseok frowned. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t his loud as sassy friend, and seeing Kihyun shrinking himself like that made his heart hurt.

“Ki, can you look at me?” He asked, voice soft. Kihyun shook his head. “Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to make fun of you or anything. I won’t hate you, Ki. I promise.”

He heard Kihyun sniff and then the boy lifted his head. Hoseok carefully wiped the tears from the boy’s cheeks.

“I-I’m sorry, hyung. I’m sorry you had to witness that and t-to take care of me. I p-promise I won’t do it again.”

Before the boy was even finished, Hoseok was already shaking his head.

“No, no, don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong.” Kihyun looked at him, clearly not believing Hoseok. “I mean it, Ki. I wasn’t disgusted, or mad, or freaked out, or anything you may think. If anything I thought you were adorable.”

At that Kihyun blushed, looking down and playing with the hem of his shirt.

“But… but it’s weird.”

He mumbled, but Hoseok could see Kihyun wanted nothing more than to believe him.

“It isn’t. I… well, after you fell asleep I read about it online. I found a few things. About… is it little space? I think so. Is that what that was, yesterday? Were you little space?”

By now Kihyun’s face resembled a tomato. And still, he nodded.

“Y-yes.”

Hoseok smiled. They were getting somewhere.

“And is this something that happens often?”

At that Kihyun violently shook his head. Hoseok frowned. Wrong direction.

“It’s wrong. It should never happen.”

He said. Hoseok sighed silently.

“I thought we’d covered that it isn’t wrong. Look. Right now the others are getting up. How about we forget about this for a while and then tonight you tell me more about this? Is this ok?” Kihyun bit his lip. “We don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable, I…”

“No! I-I want to. We can do what you said.”

Hoseok beamed. They were definitely getting somewhere.

 

By the time they were back in the dorm, after a gruelling day of practice, it was night and Kihyun was regretting his decision to talk to Hoseok. Not that he didn’t want to talk. The idea of telling someone sounded wonderful. But he was scared.

The others had asked how he was feeling, in the morning, and soon Kihyun found out that Hoseok had told them that he was sick. It eased his fears a bit. Hoseok had lied to cover up for him. Even after finding Kihyun acting like a toddler and having no explanation to it, he’d taken care of Kihyun and covered up for him. This couldn’t be so bad. And with that in mind he headed to Hoseok’s room.

Hoseok was playing on his phone while lying in his bed, when Kihyun entered. He immediately looked up and smiled once he spotted the younger.

“Hey. You came.”

He said. Kihyun blushed and looked down.

“Can we get this over with, hyung?”

He asked. Hoseok nodded, getting up.

“Let’s go to the roof. This way we don’t have to worry about the others hearing.”

He said, pulling Kihyun by the wrist. This made the boy relax a little. He’d been worried about the others overhearing, and just Hoseok knowing was already bad enough.

Once they got to the roof, Hoseok sat down and patted the floor next to him. Kihyun sighed and sat down. Was it too late to go back?

“Ok, now tell me about this whole little space thing.”

Kihyun closed his eyes for a second and started explaining. He told Hoseok about how it was a way to de-stress, how it was sexual for some people, but not for him. How some people had caregivers that looked after them. How he’d found himself attracted to the whole thing, but terrified of the idea of being like that. He told the older about the time he’d ordered the pacifier and about how he couldn’t even touch it for a month after getting it delivered. And about how it had felt when he fell in little space for the first time.

“It didn’t feel wrong, hyung. It felt right. It felt so good. I was so relaxed. But then I woke up and I was back in big space and I panicked, and it started feeling wrong again, and…” He stopped. Hoseok, who had been listening without interrupting, rubbed his back to calm the boy down. Kihyun managed to control his breathing. “I always fight against it, always. But sometimes… sometimes it’s just too much and I fall into little space without meaning to. And I was so scared you guys would find out and hate me. And then yesterday you… I’m scared you’ll think I’m a freak.”

Hoseok’s heart was breaking for the boy, and he honestly wanted to cry. But right now he couldn’t. He had to be strong for Kihyun.

“Ki. Listen to me, cause what I’m going to say is important. You. Are. Perfect. You know what I thought yesterday, when I found you? I thought that you looked adorable and that I wanted to take care of you and cuddle you until you were done with me.” At that Kihyun giggled. Hoseok smiled. “I know you think this isn’t right, Ki, but you’re not hurting anyone, and it’s good for you, so why would it be wrong? If anything it’s a better way to relieve stress than many others. So don’t be afraid to accept that part of yourself. You are who you are, and I’ll love you no matter what. Ok?”

Kihyun was looking at him like Hoseok had just come down from heaven. The older wondered how much the other had longed for this acceptance. Kihyun sniffed, drying tears that hadn’t even fallen yet, and then hugged Hoseok, burying his face on the older’s neck. Hoseok took only a second to react and hug back.

They stayed like that for a while, before Kihyun leaned back, breaking the hug.

“Thank you, hyung.”

He simply mumbled. Hoseok ruffled his hair.

“Just saying the truth. Now, what was it that you told me about caregivers?”

 

That night, Kihyun went to sleep feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was still scared of this whole thing, and still learning to accept himself. Plus, the others still knew nothing about him being a little. But Hoseok was there now, he was there and Kihyun trusted him. With Hoseok with him, he felt strong enough to move on without falling down.

Plus. Now he had a caregiver. What more could he ask for?


	3. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kihyun's first time with a caregiver

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, once again, if there's anything you want to read just leave your suggestions in the comments ^.^

Kihyun didn’t know exactly what he was expecting to happen after his conversation with Hoseok. The boy had been acting absolutely normal around him, something Kihyun was grateful for, but that confused him.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, how he was supposed to act. Would Hoseok want to discuss things with him again before Kihyun went into little space? Was he supposed to say something? Should he talk to the older about this? Should he approach Hoseok when he was feeling stressed and wanted to go into little space? He didn’t know.

And if it depended on him it wouldn’t happen. Kihyun was embarrassed enough to admit to himself that he wanted to be little, let alone admit it to some else. Even if Hoseok had agreed to be his caregiver, Kihyun would never have the courage to go up to the older and tell him he was feeling little.

So he was confused and in a loss of what to do, stuck between the happiness of having someone to take care of him and the fear of the unknown. And that was probably what sent him into little space, little over a week after his talk with Hoseok.

 

“Kihyun, are you ok? You seem a bit out of it.”

Said Hyunwoo. Kihyun blinked hard, turning to face the leader.

“I’m ok. Sorry. I’ll get it right this time.”

He answered. Hyunwoo seemed to hesitate, but then he sighed and restarted the song for them to go over the choreography again.

Kihyun shook his head. He needed to concentrate, but ever since the break he’d been having a hard time doing so and kept getting the choreography wrong, even though he had it memorized.

The problem had started in the morning. Kihyun had woken up late, leaving him no time to eat properly. He’d shoved the first thing he’d found on his mouth before running out of the dorm to the van. And still he’d gotten scolded for not being more responsible, which left him in a pissy mood.

Then, during their break, Hoseok had sat down next to Changkyun and started tickling the maknae, who laughed and fought back. It wasn’t an unusual scene; they were always playing around with each other. But today everything seemed to be rubbing Kihyun the wrong way. He glared at the two for a while, an unknown feeling stirring in his stomach. Hoseok shouldn’t be playing with Changkyun, he was Kihyun’s careg… Kihyun stopped himself and shook his head. No. Nope, no way, this wasn’t happening. This wasn’t the time to fall into little space.

Kihyun had forced himself to look away from the other two and focus on his water bottle. Just a little bit more. He just needed to wait a little bit more.

 

Unknown to Kihyun, Hoseok had witnessed his little moment and was observing the boy, worried. When they restarted practice he kept an eye on the younger, noting how his movements were sloppy and his concentration seemed to be elsewhere. And, considering how much of a perfectionist Kihyun usually was, there was only one explanation for his behaviour. Hyunwoo stopped the song. Kihyun said everything was alright. Hoseok didn’t believe him. He didn’t think Hyunwoo did, euther.

When Kihyun stumbled for the fifth time, Hyunwoo stopped the song again.

“Ok, guys, I don’t think we’re making any progress here. Let’s go home. We can practice again tomorrow. It’s a free morning if you don’t have schedule, and if you have, please remember to set up your alarms. Now let’s go home.”

He said. The room filled with groans of relief and exhaustion. But Hoseok was focused on something else. Kihyun was still in his place, looking around seeming lost. And then his eyes stopped on Hoseok and his bottom lip began to tremble. Hoseok’s eyes widened and in a second he was by the younger’s side, hugging Kihyun.

“Hey, bug, shh, it’s ok, I’m here. Just hold on, ok? We’ll be home soon.” He said. Kihyun sniffed against his chest, but pulled back, eyes dry, and nodded. Hoseok smiled. “There’s my good boy.”

He whispered. Kihyun smiled brightly. Hoseok turned around to gather his and Kihyun’s things, glad to see that the others hadn’t noticed the exchange. It was easier like that.

 

On the ride home, Kihyun rested his head on Hoseok’s shoulder. The older didn’t let him sleep, though, because it would be harder to get him into the dorm inconspicuously if he was having a temper tantrum from being woken up. Once they did get home, the older took the boy’s hand and pulled him up the stairs, glad, for the first time, that the others were all too exhausted to notice anything weird.

He arrived at his room and left Kihyun on the bed.

“Stay here, bug. I’ll be right back.”

Kihyun nodded slightly, thumb going to his mouth and eyes closing. Hoseok smiled. He then left the room to search for Hyunwoo.

The older was on the kitchen. Hoseok bit his lip before approaching him.

“Hyunwoo… Can you change rooms with Kihyunnie tonight? Neither of us have schedules tomorrow and I wanted to sleep with him.”

He said, trying to sound as pleading as he could. He should have known it wasn’t needed. Hyunwoo’s heart was too big to deny Hoseok something like that.

“Course, it’s not like I haven’t done this before.” He said. Hoseok beamed at him and hugged the leader. Hyunwoo chuckled. “Night, Seok. Enjoy your sleepover.”

He said. Hoseok’s smile couldn’t be bigger.

When he got back into his room, Kihyun was half lying in the bed and half falling. His thumb was in his mouth and he was gripping the blanket for dear life. Hoseok sighed. This might be a challenge. He took something from his bottom drawer and approached the boy.

“Kihyunnie. Hyunnie, wake up, baby. You can’t sleep on those uncomfortable clothes.”

Kihyun whined and rolled to the side. Only to fall from the bed. Hoseok was fast and held him before he could hit the ground, but the scare was enough to wake Kihyun up. For the second time on the night, his lower lip wobbled.

“Oh, Kihyunnie, no, don’t cry! It’s ok, it was just a scare! See? You’re ok, I’ve got you. I caught you.”

He said, trying to calm the boy down. ‘Poor kid’ thought the older. ‘He must be exhausted.’

“S-seokie… tired…”

Whined the boy, blinking up at Hoseok. His lisp was way more pronounced than when he was in big space, and it was adorable. Hoseok smiled.

“Hey, bug, don’t worry, I’ll get you ready for bed in a second, ok? Now sit up and lift your arms.”

Once Kihyun was naked, Hoseok took a piece of clothing from behind him. He’d purchased the footed onesie recently, as a present for Kihyun. The boy had told him he didn’t have much for little space, just his pacifier and hamster onesie. And Hoseok couldn’t allow that. His little boy deserved the world.

He dressed the younger. Right now Kihyun was too tired to notice the foreign piece of clothing – he did notice how soft and comfortable it was, though –, but in the morning he’d appreciate it. Once the boy was dressed, Hoseok picked him up and put him under the covers. He then grabbed Kihyun’s pacifier, which they’d agreed to leave on the older’s drawer – that would soon become Kihyun’s little stuff drawer –, and put it into the boy’s mouth. He knew he should brush the boy’s teeth, but one day wouldn’t kill anyone. With Kihyun half asleep like that, it would probably be harder than trying to bathe an angry cat.

Once the boy was sucking on his pacifier, Hoseok picked him up and put him on the bed, putting a stuffed animal in his arms. It was new, too, a little pink rabbit that Hoseok had bought along with the onesie. Kihyun immediately grabbed the toy, hugging it close and sighing contently. Hoseok smiled and covered the boy. Kihyun was precious.

 

Kihyun woke up feeling content and comfortable. He opened his eyes and stretched, noticing that something was off. He looked around. Uh. This wasn’t his room. Actually, how had he even gotten to the dorm? What… he felt something on his mouth. His pacifier. For a second he panicked, his big self fighting with his little self for power. What if the others saw? What if he’d gone into little space in front of them? What if…

His panic was cut off by someone entering the room. He quickly took his pacifier off, heart going a million miles an hour. And then he recognized Hoseok.

“Kihyunnie? You’re up! Hey, did you sleep well, baby boy?”

And with that, Kihyun’s little side gave one last push and won the battle. He shyly nodded, smiling at the older simply because Hoseok’s smile was so big.

“Morning.”

He said, still shy. Big Kihyun might have talked to Hoseok about this, but Little Kihyun was only getting to know him. Hoseok sat by his side and only then Kihyun noticed the plate in his hands. He perked up. Was that food? Hoseok chuckled at the boy’s eager face.

“Well, someone is hungry. Do you want to eat first or change first, baby?” Kihyun looked at the older, chewing on his cheek. Then he shyly pointed at the food. Hoseok laughed. “Aigo, you’re so cute. Food first, then? Well, then sit here.”

The older pulled the little to the floor, so they were sitting facing each other. He put the plate on his lap and the chopsticks on the plate while he grabbed a cup of water. Kihyun reached for the chopsticks, but Hoseok held his hand.

“No, baby, you’re too little for that. Let me feed you, ok?”

Kihyun pouted, cheeks reddening at being told that he was too little, but when Hoseok pretended to fly a strawberry airplane into his mouth he immediately opened up, gladly taking the piece of fruit. Hoseok smiled and pinched the boy’s cheek. Too busy chewing, Kihyun didn’t even mind.

The process repeated itself a few more times, before all of the food on the plate was gone. Hoseok then handed the plastic cup for Kihyun, who ended up spilling half of the content on his lap before getting it right. He pouted, putting the cup down.

“Sowy…”

He said, eyeing his dinosaur onesie sadly. Hoseok chuckled.

“It’s ok, sweetie, it’s only water. Guess we’ll have to buy you a sippy cup.”

Kihyun smiled sheepishly.

 

Hoseok didn’t know Kihyun had so much energy. After begin fed and having his clothes changed and his teeth brushed, the boy had requested to play. At first he was shy, quietly playing with his stuffed toy. But then, as he noticed that Hoseok was willing to play with him, he started to get less and less shy, until Hoseok was sprawled on the floor, exhausted from running around playing aliens, and Kihyun and his plush toy were having a space adventure all over the room.

“Kiiunnie to Flopsy! Let’s explore that planet there!”

He said, climbing on Hoseok’s bed and getting down, landing next to Hoseok. The older sighed. He had the impression he was the new planet to be explored.

“Flopsy, do you think there is aliens here?”

The little asked on a stage whisper. The bunny, which had been named Flopsy, was made to nod. Kihyun gasped. Hoseok bit his lip. He might be a handful, but he was still adorable.

“Here? Where? I don’t see anything.”

At this moment, Hoseok sat up abruptly, making weird noises and startling Kihyun. The boy squealed and ran away – as far as he could on the tiny dorm room.

“Uaaaa I’m an alien, uaaaah”

Played Hoseok, extending his arms and slowly getting up to crawl to Kihyun. The little boy squealed more and began running, before reaching into his non-existing pockets and taking nothing out, only to point at Hoseok and make shooting noises.

But Hoseok didn’t stop, and soon he was running after the little, until he tackled Kihyun and started tickling the boy. It was a bit harder to tickle him than it had been to tickle his three-year-old cousin, but Kihyun’s delighted giggles were worth it. Kihyun was worth it.

 

It took a few more tickle fights and planet explorations, but finally Kihyun seemed to tire out. When Hoseok stopped tickling him – for the umpteenth time – he simply stayed on the boy’s arms, snuggling closer to the older. Hoseok took this as his cue. He picked the boy up and set him on the bed. Soon it would be time for them to go to practice, but right now it was nap time.

“Do you want your paci, Kihyun?”

He asked, covering the boy and his stuffed toy. Kihyun nodded. Hoseok found the boy’s pacifier and put it in his mouth. Kihyun gladly took it. Hoseok was about to leave to get ready, but Kihyun held his hand. Hoseok looked back. Kihyun’s eyes were almost closed.

“Appa, stay.”

Hoseok’s heart melted. He figured he could stay for a bit.

“OK, baby. I’ll stay.”

 

Hoseok was folding Kihyun’s new onesie when he heard the younger waking up. He turned around in time to see Kihyun taking the pacifier from his mouth, cheeks completely red.

“Hey. Not in headspace, I see.”

He greeted. Kihyun jumped a bit, startled, and then blushed even more.

“N-no, hyung.”

He said, playing with the hem of his shirt. Hoseok smiled.

“Hey, don’t be embarrassed, Ki. I’ve told you, you’re adorable and I love taking care of you. There’s no need to feel bad about it.”

Kihyun nodded, but he was still blushing.

“Thank you for taking care of me, hyung.”

He ended up saying. Hoseok smiled.

“No problem.”

He answered, turning back to the clothes he had been folding. He felt Kihyun approach him and then the boy ran his hands over the footed onesie.

“When did you buy this, hyung?”

He asked, softly. Hoseok turned to him, seeing a little shy smile on his face.

“A day or two after our talk. I was researching some more and stumbled on this website that sold stuff for littles. I saw this little onesie and I just couldn’t resist it. And you said you didn’t have stuff for little space, so I figured you’d like that.”

Kihyun’s smile grew.

“I did. Thank you, hyung.”

He said.

“You’re welcome.”

Answered the older.

“Now hurry up, you lazy ass, we have to go to practice.”

He said. Hoseok laughed. Good to know that Kihyun was still himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think?


	4. How Hyunwoo Found Out

Kihyun didn’t mean to go into little space. He couldn’t go into little space, actually – at least that’s what he had told himself – because he was at the dorms, alone with Hyunwoo. Hoseok was busy in the company with no chance of coming back any time soon, and the others would be back in maybe an hour, maybe less. So he wasn’t supposed to go into little space.

He didn’t think it would be a problem, when Hoseok asked him earlier if he would be ok alone with Hyunwoo in the dorms. Ever since Hoseok had become his caregiver, a month earlier, Kihyun had started to accept his little self more and to feel more comfortable with it. And so, going into little space became less of a fear, more natural.

He still had difficulty in telling Hoseok he was feeling little, but Hoseok had gotten quite good at reading him. And so, he’d gone into little space quite often – as often as their schedules allowed – and stopped going long periods of time fighting against the urge to be little. This meant that he didn’t crash anymore. He didn’t fall into little space from sheer tiredness of fighting against it.

So, as said, when Hoseok asked if he’d be ok alone, he assured him that everything would be ok. He wasn’t feeling little and there was nothing around to trigger him. Everything would be fine.

Except Kihyun hadn’t been counting on there being thunder.

 

Kihyun had always hated storms. When he was a kid he used to hide under thousands of covers and make his mother stay by his side whenever there was thunder, and wouldn’t let her go until he was sure it had stopped storming. As he’d gotten older, his parents and friends started teasing him about it, which led him to pretend he was no longer scared.

With time, he learned to ignore the noise with loud music and covers, learned to hide his fear pretty well. But the fact was that Kihyun was still incredibly scared of thunder, no matter what he told himself and others. And what a better day to storm than the day he was without his caregiver around.

Hyunwoo was in the kitchen preparing something for him and Kihyun to eat when it started raining. Kihyun looked outside, biting his lip. The rain was light, though, so he decided he shouldn’t worry about it. The leader came back with two bowls of food a while later and put on a movie, and in a few moments Kihyun had completely forgotten about the rain.

They were fifteen minutes into the movie when the first clap thunder came. It wasn’t that loud, but it was enough to startle Kihyun, making him jump up, eyes wide. Hyunwoo turned to him, one eyebrow raised, and Kihyun blushed.

“Are you ok?”

Asked the leader. Kihyun nodded quickly.

“Y-yes, I’m fine, hyung.”

He said, trying to focus back on the movie.

His heart was beating too fast and he felt the urge to either run and hide or just cry. He tried to calm himself. This wasn’t good. This really wasn’t good. He wondered if Hoseok would come back if called him, but pushed the thought aside, embarrassed about it. He couldn’t keep Hoseok from his work just because of some thunder. He could handle this on his own. He wasn’t a baby.

It thundered again, this time closer, and Kihyun whimpered, pulling his knees close to his chest. Why did it have to thunder? Of all days did it really have to thunder when he was alone with their leader?

He was working hard on ignoring the noise outside and his fastening heartbeat, but when it thundered again Kihyun felt tears well up in his eyes, and before he knew it he was crying. And not silent crying, like he usually did when he was sad or scared, but full on crying, like a little kid that had fallen and gotten hurt. He barely registered Hyunwoo’s startled expression before the older was kneeling in front of him.

“Kihyun? Hey, are you ok? What happened? Ki?”

Kihyun continued to cry, not answering, but extended his hands towards the older. Hyunwoo was completely confused by the action, but the gesture’s meaning was obvious. He stood up, picking the boy up and sitting on the couch again, this time around with Kihyun on his lap. Another thunder sounded outside, even louder than the previous one, and Kihyun’s grip on Hyunwoo’s shirt tightened.

“S-scawy.”

Mumbled Kihyun, hiccupping. And then Hyunwoo understood. Kihyun was scared of thunder. He should have noticed sooner. It still didn’t explain why the younger was acting and talking like a kid, but Hyunwoo had a feeling he wouldn’t get an answer about that anytime soon.

“It’s ok, Ki, we’re safe inside. Thunder can’t hurt you.”  
He said, trying to pry the boy’s face from his shoulder, but Kihyun’s grip was too strong, and soon Hyunwoo gave up, letting the boy continue to soak his shirt with his tears. His words didn’t seem to have any effect either.

The leader was at a loss of what to do. It broke his heart to see Kihyun crying like that, but he didn’t know how to stop him, how to make the boy believe he was safe. He tried petting the boy’s hair and patting his back, with no result. He tried to shush Kihyun, but it also didn’t work. He was about to simply give up when his phone rang. It was Hoseok.

“Hoseok, hey. Do you need something?”

He said, debating on whether or not to tell the other about Kihyun. On one side, he didn’t think Kihyun would want the others to know about that. on the other, he was desperate.

“Hey. Uhn, not really, I just… how is everything around there?”

Asked Hoseok. There was something weird in his voice, a kind of anxiousness. Hyunwoo took note of the boy still crying on his shoulder.

“Everything is… fine.”

He answered. There was silence for a second.

“Is Ki ok?”

Asked Hoseok, voice quiet. Hyunwoo frowned. Did Hoseok know something he didn’t?

“Uhn… he’s… weird?”

He answered, choosing to stay half way between telling and not telling. He heard Hoseok sigh on the other side.

“Can I talk to him?”

He asked. Hyunwoo put the phone away and called Kihyun. It was still thundering outside, and Kihyun was still trembling and crying.

“Ki, hey, Hoseok wants to talk to you.”

He said. Immediately Kihyun’s head shot up. His eyes were red and his cheeks were stained with tears, but he seemed eager. Hyunwoo handed him the phone.

“Kihyunnie?”

Hyunwoo faintly heard Hoseok on the other side. Kihyun’s lower lip started to wobble.

“A-appa, whewe awe you?”

Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow. Appa? What the hell was going on?

“Hey, baby. I’m at the company right now. Remember?”

Kihyun sniffed, but he’d stopped crying.

“K-kihyunnie scawed. Thunder scawy.”

Said the boy, whimpering as another thunder sounded.

“I know, bug. I wish I could be with you right now. But you have Hyunwoo, right? He’s there with you, isn’t he?”

Kihyun pouted.

“Want you.”

He said. Hyunwoo would be slightly insulted, if the whole situation wasn’t so bizarre.

“I can’t be there right now, bug. But let me tell you something. Did you know that Hyunwoo is very good at keeping scary things away? If he’s around, nothing can get you!”

Hyunwoo saw Kihyun’s eyes widen and the boy looked at him, seeming impressed. Despite everything, Hyunwoo almost laughed. Kihyun looked kind of cute.

“Even the mean thunder?”

He asked. Hoseok’s voice was solemn as he spoke again.

“Yes, even the mean thunder. You just have to trust him. Can you do that for appa?”

Kihyun looked at Hyunwoo again and tilted his head. Ok, maybe he was a bit more than ‘kind of cute’.

“I can, appa.”

He said. He was so entertained talking to Hoseok he didn’t even cringe at the thunder that sounded outside. Hyunwoo wished that effect lasted a while.

“That’s my good boy. I’ll be there as soon as I can, bug. Now can you pass the phone to Hyunwoo?”

Kihyun sighed, sadly.

“Ok… Love you, appa.”

“Love you too, bug.”

Hyunwoo accepted the phone back. Kihyun immediately snaked his arms around him again, hiding his face on Hyunwoo’s chest. This time Hyunwoo smiled slightly.

“Ok, now can I know what the hell is going on?”

He said, talking to Hoseok. Kihyun may be cute, but Hyunwoo was still confused as hell.

 

Once the phone was turned off and everything was – kind of – explained, Hyunwoo looked down at the boy on his lap. The whole thing was very… different. At first he’d found it just plain weird, but as Hoseok explained everything, Hyunwoo couldn’t bring himself to label it as weird anymore. Just different. And maybe a little cute. Maybe.

He ran a hand through Kihyun’s hair. It was still thundering, and Kihyun didn’t seem like he’d let go of Hyunwoo any time soon, but at least he’d calmed down.

“Kihyunnie. Can you get up so we can move to somewhere more comfortable?”

He asked, trying to speak as softly as Hoseok had. It didn’t work as well, but Kihyun looked at him, seeming to think about it. He then nodded and rolled to the couch, one hand still clutching Hyunwoo’s shirt. The older stood up and took the boy’s hand from his shirt, holding it on his own, instead.

He guided Kihyun to his room, smiling slightly as the boy clung to him. Once they arrived at the room he sat Kihyun down on Hoseok’s bed and asked him to wait. The boy didn’t seem to fond of the idea, but as Hyunwoo explained he would be just a few steps away, the younger accepted it.

Hyunwoo made his way to the drawer Hoseok had told him about. He opened it and raised an eyebrow. Inside there were a few items the older would never expect to see in their dorm. There were a few clothes with animal prints, a pink sippy cup, two colouring books, a few stuffed animal and a two pacifiers. He grabbed the pink one, as well as the pink stuffed rabbit and closed the drawer. Hoseok told him he didn’t need to change the boy’s clothes, so he let it be.

As he headed back to the bed he saw Kihyun’s eyes light up. The younger reached up making grabby hands towards the rabbit. Hyunwoo smiled and handed the toy to the boy. Kihyun took it, hugging the toy tight. He then looked at the pacifier. Hyunwoo extended it to him, as well, but instead of taking it, the younger opened his mouth. Hyunwoo smiled, amused, and put the pacifier on the boy’s mouth. Kihyun shouldn’t look cute sucking on a pacifier, he was twenty-three. But he did, he looked adorable and Hyunwoo chuckled at the cuteness.

“Hey, want me to show you something really cool?”

He asked, getting used to treating Kihyun like a kid. The boy looked at him, clearly curious. Hyunwoo smiled and picked his computer up. He helped the boy get under the covers and lay down next to him, resting his computer on his legs. He then turned it on and searched for kids’ music on Youtube. Once he found it he took two sets of earphones and plugged to the computer, handing one to Kihyun. The boy looked at it, before looking at the older, confused. Hyunwoo chuckled.

“Here, like this.” He said, helping the younger put the earphones on the right place. Kihyun tilted his head. Hyunwoo pinched his cheek. Kihyun smiled shyly. “You’re scared of thunder, right? Well, I’ll make it disappear!”

He said. Kihyun’s eyes widened and he clapped. Hyunwoo laughed, pressing play. As the song started playing, Kihyun turned to the computer. He squealed once he saw the little animated sharks on the screen, giggling as the baby shark started singing. Hyunwoo couldn’t help but to laugh too.

 

After three or so songs, Hyunwoo heard the dorm’s door opening. He cursed lowly. That was probably Minhyuk, Changkyun and Jooheon, coming back from grocery shopping. He started thinking of something to tell them, before eyeing Kihyun. The boy was entranced by the songs.

Hyunwoo got up, careful not to jostle the younger too much. Still, as soon as he got up, Kihyun looked at him, eyes scared and a pout behind his pacifier.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

Kihyun whined, but Hyunwoo didn’t give him time to refuse. He quickly headed out. As expected, the other three were putting things away on the kitchen.

“Hyunwoo hyung, hey.”

Greeted Minhyuk, smiling at the older. Hyunwoo smiled back, shaking his head to try and focus on reality. It was weird to see everything so normal after spending a big part of the evening taking care of little kid Kihyun.

“Hey, do you need any help?”

He asked. He hoped they would say no, because he didn’t want to leave Kihyun alone for too long. Luckily, Jooheon shook his head.

“Nah, we’ve got this.”

He said, waving the leader off. Changkyun nodded, then frowned.

“Where’s Ki?”

He asked. Hyunwoo almost panicked, before remembering he had an excuse ready.

“Oh, we were watching a movie in my room, but he fell asleep. He was pretty tired, so I don’t think I’ll wake him up. If you kids could keep it down…”

Jooheon laughed.

“Don’t worry, hyung, we won’t wake the baby.”

Hyunwoo almost laughed. If Jooheon only knew…

 

Once he entered the room, Hyunwoo regretted not reassuring Kihyun more before leaving. The boy was curled up in a ball, completely covered by the covers. The leader bit his lip.

“Kihyunnie? Hey, I’m back.”

The boy popped up from under the covers and pouted.

“Hyu mean. Hyu leave Kiyunnie alone.”

Hyunwoo sighed. He wasn’t vey good at this.

“Sorry, Kihyunnie. I won’t do this again, ok?”

Kihyun scrunched up his nose, but nodded. Hyunwoo smiled and pinched his cheek, making the boy giggle.

“Put song again?”

The boy asked. Hyunwoo nodded.

 

Around the tenth song, Kihyun’s eyes started closing. Hyunwoo looked at the boy fondly, watching the way Kihyun pulled the stuffed rabbit closer to his face, snuggling against Hyunwoo. He was thinking of a way to get up without startling the boy when the door to the room opened. Hyunwoo’s heart almost came out of his throat, but when he looked up he found Hoseok looking at them fondly.

“Hey.”

Whispered the leader. Hoseok smiled.

“Hey. Is he asleep?”

He asked. Before Hyunwoo could answer, though, Kihyun opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and then spotted Hoseok. Hyunwoo didn’t really mind being almost squished as Kihyun climbed over him to get to Hoseok.

“Appa!”

The boy said, hugging Hoseok tightly. The boy smiled, picking Kihyun up. Hyunwoo watched with a smiled on his face.

“Hey, bug. How were things today? Did Hyunwoo keep the thunder away?”

Kihyun nodded, resting his cheek on Hoseok’s shoulder tiredly.

“Humhum. Hyu didn’t let the thunder monster get Kiyunnie.”

Said the boy. Hoseok and Hyunwoo chuckled.

“I told you he’d protect you. Now let’s go to sleep, it’s past your bedtime, little boy.”

Kihyun shook his head.

“Not tiwed.”

He said, eyes closed, yawning afterwards. Hoseok laughed.

“Ok, sure. Then let’s just brush your teeth and get you in some comfortable clothes, yeah?”

Kihyun huffed, but let Hoseok carry him to the bathroom. Thankfully it was already late and the others were already in bed.

Hyunwoo was finishing getting dressed when Hoseok and Kihyun re-entered the room. He watched as Hoseok put Kihyun down and started undressing the younger. But as he was about to take Kihyun’s pants off, the boy stopped him, pouting.

“Appa, Hyu no.”

Said the boy. Hoseok looked confused for a second, but then he followed the little’s eyes and understood. He chuckled.

“Uhn, Hyunwoo, can you turn around for a second?”

Hyunwoo snorted – it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Kihyun naked before –, but did as he was told. A while later Hoseok let him turn back around. Kihyun was now dressed in a footed onesie, his rabbit still securely in his hands. Hyunwoo cooed.

“Oh, you look so cute, Kihyunnie.”

He said. Kihyun looked down, cheeks red, but giggled. It was adorable.

“Well, now it’s time for bed. Say goodnight, Kihyunnie.”

Instructed Hoseok. Kihyun looked at him and Hoseok gestured towards Hyunwoo.

“Goodnight.”

Mumbled the boy, looking at Hoseok for approval. The older snorted, but nodded. It was good enough. He picked the boy up and laid Kihyun on his bed, climbing up afterwards and giving the boy his pacifier. Hyunwoo could see Kihyun contentedly snuggling against Hoseok’s chest. Hoseok was smiling as if he had the most precious thing in the world in his arms.

“He’s cute.”

Said Hyunwoo, a while later, when Kihyun was already asleep. Hoseok hummed.

“He is. I was scared you might find it weird.”

Hyunwoo laughed.

“Can’t say I didn’t. But he won me.”

Hoseok smiled.

“I’m glad.”

He said. Hyunwoo was glad too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Anyone got any suggestions? Requests? Opinions? Let me know!


	5. How Changkyun Found Out

Kihyun was tired. They were preparing for a comeback, and their schedules were so busy they barely had time to breathe. And Kihyun could feel, with each day that passed, the stress building up and taking its toll on his body. He could feel his little side bubbling up, just under the surface, wanting to come out, but there simply wasn’t time. Even if he wanted to squeeze that into his schedule, he couldn’t ask that of Hoseok of Hyunwoo, not when they were the two working the hardest, already.

Kihyun could see, too, Hoseok’s and Hyunwoo’s worried glances to him. Every time Kihyun whined or bit on his nails, they were immediately by his side, asking him if he needed anything, if he was feeling little, if he was ok. And honestly, he loved them and how much they cared, but the only thing they were doing was stress him more.

He didn’t want to go into little space. As much as he’d gotten better at accepting it, now was not the time. He knew that if he did go into little space, he’d probably feel guilty afterwards, for making Hoseok and Hyunwoo waste time with him. But them asking him all the time if he was in little space or wanted to be, was making it pretty hard for him to avoid it. Which is why he was, right now, on Changkyun’s studio.

Changkyun had raised an eyebrow when Kihyun showed up, begging the maknae to take him in. Nonetheless, he’d let the older stay, not even questioning why the sudden request. Kihyun was glad. He needed to finish some things or their songs, and Hoseok and Hyunwoo looking at him worriedly whenever he put his pen on his mouth to think was not helping.  
He should have known, though, that getting too safe and comfortable was not a good idea. While he worked on the songs he had to work on, sitting on the sofa Changkyun had on his studio, the younger was working on his raps, sometimes humming, sometimes rapping in a low voice. It should be annoying and distracting, but the boy’s low voice was actually kind of soothing, and Kihyun barely noticed as his eyes started closing.

 

Kihyun woke up to someone running a hand through his hair. He opened his eyes and saw Changkyun playing on his phone, humming something softly. He tilted his head.

“Kyunnie.”

He called, voice croaky from being asleep. Changkyun startled, jumping a little, and then his face went red. Kihyun frowned. Why was Kyunnie going red?

“H-hyung, hey! You startled me!”

Kihyun giggled.

“But Kiyunnie not do anything!”

He said. Changkyun raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. Kihyun sat up and tilted his head too. Changkyun frowned. Kihyun frowned too. Or tried, although the result was just a scrunched nose, that looked adorable. Changkyun laughed and Kihyun giggled.

“Why are you imitating me?”

Asked Changkyun, seeming both, amused and confused.

“Kiyunnie is not!”

Said the boy, shaking his head. Changkyun smiled. He should have known his hyung was a little. The signs had been there, clear as water.

“But you were.”

Said Changkyun.

“Was not!”

Insisted Kihyun.

“You were!”

“Was not!”

“You were!”

“Was not!”

Changkyun couldn’t hold it any longer and started laughing.

“Ok, ok, you weren’t.”

Kihyun looked extremely proud of whining their argument. It was cute. Changkyun pinched the boy’s cheek.

 

Changkyun never knew he had so much equipment. But after almost one hour explaining what each thing in his studio as if he was talking to a toddler, he came to the conclusion that Starship was actually quite generous.

“What this do?”

Asked Kihyun, pointing at one of the smaller machines. Changkyun sighed.

“Ki, how about we play something, hum?”

He asked. At the word ‘play’, Kihyun immediately perked up.

“Pway pwetend?”

He asked, seeming eager. Changkyun couldn’t help but to coo at the boy’s lisp.

“Yes, we can play pretend.”

He said. And so they started playing pretend, and everything was going well, until Kihyun started getting grumpy.

Changkyun noticed the older rubbing his eyes more and more often, and with that plus his grumpiness, he figured the boy was getting tired. He didn’t expect, though, Kihyun to lash out the way he did when he proposed he take a nap. He should have.

“Not. Tiwed.”

He said for the third time, face scrunched up. Changkyun didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t force the boy to sleep, but he was clearly tired and needed rest.

“Ki, you need to sleep, so that you can play later.”

He insisted. Kihyun screamed. Changkyun was glad his studio was soundproof.

“Not tiwed. Want appa.”

He said. And then promptly started crying and asking for “Seok appa”. Changkyun raised an eyebrow. Did he mean Hoseok? So Hoseok… he shook his head. It wasn’t the time for this. He looked at Kihyun, who was still crying and rubbed his temples. If only he had something to put the boy to sleep… something came to his mind.

“Ok. Then, if you’re not tired, how about I show you something?”

Kihyun stopped crying and looked at him. Changkyun smiled and gave an excited nod, glad Kihyun hadn’t throw anything at him this time around, and turned on his computer. He made Kihyun sit on his lap and turned on a instrumental track. And then he started humming, as low as he could.

It took less then ten minutes for Kihyun to fall asleep. Changkyun did a little victory dance, trying not to wake the older, then picked Kihyun up and lay him on the sofa. He cooed when he noticed the boy had his thumb in his mouth. And then he picked up his phone. He needed to make a call.

 

Once Changkyun turned off the phone. He looked at Kihyun. To be honest, he was a little jealous he wasn’t the first to know about Kihyun being a little. Hoseok had told him how he’d found out on accident, and how Hyunwoo finding out had also been an accident. He told Changkyun that they’d been doing this for over a month, and really, Changkyun was jealous.

He understood Kihyun’s side, he really did. Being a little wasn’t something that was well accepted – or well known, for that matter – in society, and in a society like theirs even less. But still, he had always felt like Kihyun trusted him, liked him a bit more than the others. But now he was beginning to think he was just seeing what he wanted to see because of his stupid crush, and… well, it hurt.

He sighed. It wasn’t time to dwell on that. What was done was done and he should just move on. He could do that.

He was almost finishing mixing his song when he heard a groan. He looked to his side and saw Kihyun sitting up, taking his thumb from his mouth. He figured the older was no longer in little space from the way his eyes widened when they met Changkyun’s, his cheeks reddening quickly.

“Hyung, hey, you’re up.”

He said. Kihyun gaped.

“Oh my god. Oh god, I’m so sorry, Kyunnie. You… I… You weren’t supposed to…”

“Know you were a little?”

Asked the younger. Kihyun’s blush darkened.

“H-how…?”

Changkyun smiled. He couldn’t stay mad at Kihyun, much less because of this.

“Do I know what a little is? Internet. I already knew about it, but I didn’t know you were a little. Until today, I mean.” Kihyun was looking down, embarrassed. “I talked to Hoseok too. He told me he’s known for a while. Why didn’t you tell me, hyung?”

Asked the maknae. Kihyun shook his head.

“No one was supposed to know, Kyunnie. Least of all you.”

He said, and what? Ouch, that hurt.

“Least of… why?”

Asked the boy, not managing to mask the hurt in his voice. Kihyun looked up, seeming guilty, he hadn’t meant to hurt the younger.

“No, hey, it’s not like that. I just... I… you… ugh, why is this so hard?”

Complained the older, punching the sofa in frustration. Changkyun frowned.

“What is hard, hyung?”

Kihyun sighed.

“It’s just… look, I like you, ok? I just didn’t want you to see me like a baby, because… well, for some reason I thought I maybe had a chance, which is stupid, because why would you like me? But then I just… and now you know and I…”

Changkyun chuckled, more in disbelief than anything else.

“Hyung. Hyung, come here.”

He said. Kihyun obeyed, looking at the floor, defeated. Kihyun put two fingers under his chin and tilted his head up. And then he kissed Kihyun.

Kihyun’s eyes widened. Changkyun was kissing him. Im Changkyun. Their maknae. Im Changkyun. The younger pulled back and laughed at Kihyun’s expression.

“I like you too, hyung. In case you haven’t noticed."

Kihyun shoved him.

“Shut up and kiss me again.”

Changkyun laughed, but did as he was told.

 

“I bet I can make you feel little, hyung.”

Said Changkyun, as he worked on a new song while Kihyun was playing something on his phone. The older looked up, cheeks slightly red.

“Why would you want your boyfriend to feel little around you?”

He asked. Changkyun laughed, enjoying the word ‘boyfriend’ being used to refer to him and Kihyun.

“Cause you’re cute. And you seem stressed, I bet you want it.”

Kihyun’s red cheeks became even redder and he glared, but it proved Changkyun’s point.

“Of course you can’t.”

Said Kihyun. Changkyun smiled.

“Challenge accepted.”

Changkyun said. Then he sat on his chair and went back to his song. Kihyun frowned. What was the maknae doing? Changkyun smiled, looking at Kihyun from the corner of his eyes. It was just a matter of time. He waited for two minutes, maybe.

“Kyunnie?”

Came Kihyun’s confused voice. Changkyun cheered internally.

“Hum?”

He answered, not turning to Kihyun.

“What are you doing?”

Asked the older. Changkyun smiled and patted his knee.

“Come sit here and I’ll show you, baby boy.”

Kihyun grimaced.

“Don’t call me that.”

He said, but made his way to the younger. When he was close enough, Changkyun pulled him to sit on his lap. Kihyun squeaked, startled.

“Here, let me show you. You see this button here? If you press it, it makes this sound.” He said, pressing the button. He repeated this three more times, before smirking. “And this button here…”

He said, pressing Kihyun’s belly button before tickling the boy. Kihyun involuntarily giggled.

“Makes this sound!”

Said Changkyun, still tickling the boy.

“Stop, stop!”

Asked Kihyun, still giggling. Changkyun laughed and stopped.

“Ok, ok, I’ll stop.” He could almost feel Kihyun pouting. “Well, now this. See, if I press here…”

A soft instrumental started playing, the same one Changkyun had used to put Kihyun to sleep. He snaked a hand to hold Kihyun by the waist and started carding his fingers through the boy’s hair.

 

When Hoseok got to Changkyun’s studio, the maknae and Kihyun were having a intense stare contest. Or… well, half intense. Changkyun was staring straight ahead, face expression less. Kihyun, on the other hand, was giggling like crazy, and he’d probably blinked five times just on the time Hoseok had been in the room. And then Changkyun blinked and Kihyun jumped up.

“Kyunnie blinked! Kyunnie lose!”

He said. Changkyun pouted and crossed his arms, faking sadness.

“Not fair, you’re too good at this!”

He said. Kihyun giggled and jumped up, dancing – more like jumping – around Changkyun. The maknae laughed and Hoseok cleared his throat, making both boys look at him. Kihyun’s eyes shone.

“Appa!”

He said, running to Hoseok. The older laughed and hugged the boy, entering the room and closing the door.

“Hey, bug. I see you’re having fun.”

He said. Kihyun nodded.

“Kyunnie nice! Kyunnie pway with Kiyunnie.”

He said. Hoseok smiled. He’d noticed how stressed Kihyun had been, but he could see the older struggling to not slip into little space. He had a pretty good idea of the reason, too. Kihyun hated feeling like a burden, and he seemed to be under the impression that Hoseok and Hyunwoo were too stressed to take care of him.

It wasn’t true, not at all. It may be physically tiring to take care of a little Kihyun, but it always left Hoseok feeling relaxed and happy, and he knew Hyunwoo felt the same. Still, Kihyun had not budged, no matter how much they tried. So it was good to see him finally let himself relax.

“Did he? That’s very nice of him, have you thanked him?”

Kihyun shook his head and ran to Changkyun, hugging the maknae.

“Thank you, Kyunnie.”

He said, sweetly. Changkyun smiled and ruffled Kihyun’s hair.

“Not a problem, we can play whenever you want.”

Kihyun smile grew impossibly bigger.

“Kihyunnie, what do you say you play with me while Kyunnie gets ready so that we can go home?”

Asked Hoseok. Kihyun quickly nodded, but Changkyun hesitated.

“Hyung…”

He started. Hoseok shook his head.

“Let’s take a break. We deserve it.”

Changkyun smiled.

Ten minutes later they were out of the door, each one on each side of Kihyun, holding the boy’s hands.

“Thanks, hyung.”

Said the maknae.

“Not a problem. But don’t think I didn’t see that hickey on my babies neck, Changkyun.”

He said, playfully. Changkyun blushed from head to toe.

“I, he, we…”

Hoseok laughed.

“Relax, Changkyunnie. You two are obvious, it’s not like we didn’t know. I just hope he wasn’t in headspace, though.”

Changkyun grimaced.

“Hyung! Of course not.”

Hoseok smiled.

“It’s ok, I believe you, I believe you.”

Changkyun rolled his eyes, but couldn’t keep the smile from his face. It was a good day.


	6. How Minhyuk, Hyungwon and Jooheon Found Out Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next part is coming soon!!

It was hard to keep a secret in the dorms. From small secrets, like where one’s secret stash of snacks was, to big things, like, say, a relationship. Which is why after three days of them getting together, the whole band already knew about Kihyun and Changkyun. And also how the three remaining found out about Kihyun being little.

Kihyun and the others were careful. They always made sure to put away Kihyun’s things from little space as soon as possible, never leaving out anything the boy wasn’t using, even when the three who didn’t know about it weren’t home. It was a bit stressful, having to watch the little while still taking note of every item that came out of the drawer, to make sure it would go back without being seen. But all of them knew Kihyun didn’t want the others to know, and they respected it, so they made an effort.

And things went well. For a while. For such a big secret, they managed to keep it for a really long time. Until, on one fated day, a little detail escaped their perception. And when they noticed it was already too late.

 

Jooheon and Hyungwon were watching TV when Minhyuk entered the room, frowning, a piece of paper on his hands. He stopped in front of the other boys and extended the paper towards them.

“What the hell is this?”

He asked. The two boys on the couch looked up, noticing the older for the first time, and Jooheon squinted to see what was written in the paper.

“Rules? What rules? Where did you find it?”

Asked Hyungwon, who was also analysing the paper. Minhyuk threw his hands up.

“I don’t know! I was looking for my charger in my room and I found it under Kihyun’s bed. It’s a list of… well, rules, but rules for children, you know? Like, bedtime, naptime, things about eating properly.”

The boy looked at the other two, completely lost. Jooheon looked at the boy by his side, but Hyungwon was also frowning, seeming as confused as Jooheon felt.

“Uhn, none of us have kids, though.”

He risked. Minhyuk glared and Jooheon shrunk against the sofa.

“You don’t say. That why it’s weird, Jooheon.”

He said. Jooheon nodded.

Hyungwon seemed to be deep in thought, and Minhyuk was once again running his eyes over the list when Changkyun left the room in which he’d been with Kihyun.

The maknae headed to the living room, confused as to why he hadn’t heard the boys’ trademark jokes about him and Kihyun. Only to find the three boys immersed in the list on Minhyuk’s hand. Changkyun paled. He knew that paper. It was the paper they had used to write down the rules for Kihyun when he was in little space. He slowly inched back into the room where he’d left Kihyun sleeping, and took out his phone.

 

Hoseok arrived about fifteen minutes after Changkyun called.

The maknae stayed in his room, pacing as silently as he could, and waiting for the older to come. He had instructed Hoseok to avoid the others and come talk to him, no matter what it took, but when the older entered the room, Changkyun knew that he already knew. He sighed, defeated.

“What do we do, hyung?”

He asked. Hoseok rubbed his face, clearly stressed with the situation.

“I don’t know. This isn’t good, we should have been more careful.”

He said. Changkyun nodded.

“Ki hyung is going to freak out.”

Said the maknae, turning to the older boy, who was peacefully asleep, sucking on his pacifier, his pink bunny held tightly in his hands. Hoseok followed the younger’s gaze and sighed.

“There’s nothing we can do, unless he or Hyunwoo can come up with an idea, we’ll have to tell them.”

Said Hoseok. Changkyun knew he was right.

“We should call Hyunwoo hyung.”

Said the maknae, after a while. Hoseok nodded, picking up his phone. Unfortunately, Hyunwoo had no idea what to do either. He seemed just as lost as the other two, and it didn’t help Changkyun’s nerves when the leader swore, something he didn’t do very often. They ended the call more desperate than they’d been before making it.

“And now w…”

Hoseok was interrupted by the noise of rustling sheets. He turned around, seeing Kihyun sleepily rubbing his eyes. He almost laughed. Kihyun wasn’t in little space anymore, because he had taken his pacifier out and pushed his stuffed bunny away, but if Hoseok didn’t know the boy’s habits, he would have thought he was still feeling little.

“Hey, hyung.”

Said Changkyun, cautiously. Kihyun blinked at him, then yawned.

“Hey.”

He said. His cheeks were dusted pink and he was playing with the hem of his bear t-shirt, subtly trying to hide the drawing. Hoseok sighed. He wished Kihyun wouldn’t feel so embarrassed about this. He tried to reassure the boy as much as possible, but Kihyun tended to avoid talking about little space, blushing when it was mentioned and quickly changing the topic.

The only times he allowed the conversation to keep going was when they needed to discuss important things about it, such as safe-words and things like that. Those conversations used to happen more in the very beginning, when they were still getting used to the whole thing, but they were becoming rarer and rarer as they learned more about age play and about little Kihyun. Hoseok was pretty sure Kihyun wouldn’t like the conversation they were about to have.

“Hey.”

Repeated Hoseok. Kihyun frowned, quickly understanding something was wrong.

“What happened?”

He asked. Hoseok bit his lip and looked at Changkyun. The maknae sighed.

“We need to talk, hyung.”

He said.

 

Kihyun insisted on changing and putting things away before they talked. Hoseok wasn’t sure if it was just his natural behaviour or if the boy was trying to put their conversation off for as long as possible, scared of what he might hear. He figured it was the latter when they finished putting things away and Kihyun shuffled awkwardly, looking at them nervously.

“So…” Started the boy. “What did you want to talk about?”

He asked. Hoseok looked at Changkyun, once again, and the maknae glared, but started talking.

“Well, I guess it’s better to just get this over with already. Hyung, Minhyuk hyung and the others found the list of rules we made for when you’re in little space.”

Kihyun paled and his eyes widened. It was exactly the reaction they’d been expecting, but Hoseok still felt ten times worse witnessing it.

“W-what?”

Asked Kihyun, breath starting to pick up.

“Minhyuk found it under your bed. Must have stayed there last time we used it, when you made a mess in your room and refused to clean, remember? And we showed it to you, to remind you of…”

Kihyun shook his head.

“D-don’t… don’t talk about it like that.”

He pleaded. Usually Hoseok would press it, tell Kihyun that he didn’t have to be embarrassed about it, but right now Kihyun looked so scared that the older let it go.

“Well, that’s it. Minhyuk, Hyungwon and Jooheon found it, and they were pretty confused. We didn’t say anything, we were waiting to talk to you. It’s your decision, Ki, but I think telling them is the best option.”

Said Hoseok. He looked at Kihyun, waiting for an answer. Instead, he saw Kihyun on the brink of a panic attack. Before he could do anything, though, Changkyun was rushing forward and hugging Kihyun, talking to him softly.

They stayed like that for more than five minutes, until Kihyun calmed down a little bit. Once he was no longer panicking, he looked at the other two, first at Changkyun, then at Hoseok.

“I-is there any other option?”

He asked, and his voice was so little it made the other two want to hug him and protect him from the world.

“We couldn’t come up with anything, Ki. Plus, if we lie now and in the future they find out or you decide to tell them, they’ll be pissed at us for lying.”

Said Hoseok, softly. Kihyun sighed.

“What if they hate me?”

He asked. Changkyun shook his head, pulling the older closer.

“They won’t. I didn’t, Hoseok hyung didn’t, Hyunwoo hyung didn’t. You’re too cute, hyung, it’s impossible to hate you. And if anyone does, then it’s their loss and they’re stupid and their opinion doesn’t matter. Ok?”

At that, Kihyun couldn’t help but to laugh, and even if it was a soft and short little laugh, Hoseok and Changkyun sighed, relieved.

“Can you guys explain it?”

He asked, cheeks reddening. Hoseok was the first one to agree, quickly followed by the maknae.

“Sure. Should we do it now?”

The older asked. Kihyun breathed in deeply and nodded. Changkyun helped him stand up and held his hand. And like this they headed to the living room.

 

Kihyun felt his breath picking up as they entered the living room. Hyungwon was watching TV, clearly annoyed, and Minhyuk was intently looking at the paper in his hands while talking to Jooheon, who seemed to be torn between paying attention to the TV and listening to the older boy.

Changkyun squeezed Kihyun’s hand and the older noticed he’d been crushing his boyfriend’s hand. He relaxed his grasp and the younger squeezed his hand again, telling him that it was ok. Minhyuk stopped talking for a second, then started again – the buzz on Kihyun’s ears was too loud for him to understand what, exactly was being said – and Hyungwon huffed.

“Hyung, I swear to…”

“Hey.”

Called Hoseok, interrupting Hyungwon. The three on the couch turned to look at them. Kihyun wanted nothing more than to hide behind Changkyun, or maybe run to his room and hide under the covers, but he swallowed his anxiousness and let his boyfriend pull him closer to the sofa.

“Hey! Are you done, hyung?” Asked Minhyuk, talking to Hoseok. “Great, so, do you know what this is?”

He said, not waiting for an answer before shoving the paper in Hoseok’s face. The older took it gently, folding it and putting in his pocket. Kihyun’s heart hurt a little seeing the paper be treated like that by Minhyuk, but he ignored it. That was his little self speaking and there was no space for that right now.

“Yes, I do. Now be quiet and listen.”

Hoseok explained to them about age play and little space much better than Kihyun had when explaining to him and the others, probably because he wasn’t as nervous and scared. Kihyun, on the other hand, was watching the others’ expressions, heart sinking as he saw Minhyuk’s frown deepening with each word.

“And. Well. Kihyun is a little. And that’s his list of rules.”

Said the boy, finishing his explanation. Kihyun bit his lip. The others were absolutely silent, as they had been during the time Hoseok was talking, but now they were looking at him. Jooheon and Hyungwon seemed more curious than anything, but Minhyuk… Minhyuk was…

“What the actual fuck?”

Minhyuk’s words startled everyone. Kihyun felt Changkyun’s hold on his hand tighten, but the world was slowly starting to spin, so he couldn’t quite focus on the warmth the hand on his provided.

“Minhyuk…”

Tried Hoseok, but Minhyuk was having none of it.

“No. No! You can’t just come here, tell me Kihyun wants to be treated like a toddler and expect me to just accept it, what the fuck?”

Kihyun knew his breath was far too quick to be healthy, but at the moment he didn’t really care. That. That had been the reaction he’d feared. The reaction he had been expecting from the beginning. He knew it would come, sooner or later.

“Hyung, c’mon, don’t be like that.”

Was that Jooheon? It sounded like Jooheon, but Kihyun couldn’t tell anymore, the world was slowly disappearing, taking with it his senses. He could see Minhyuk saying something, expression angry, and Changkyun talking at the same time, seeming even angrier than Minhyuk. He felt his legs start to shake, tried to squeeze the hand that had been in his, but there was nothing there. And then he was falling, just as Minhyuk walked away. The last thing he saw was Hyungwon jumping over the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?


	7. How Hyungwon, Minhyuk and Jooheon Found Out Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: there is a panic attack in this chapter, right at the beginning, on the first 13 lines!!
> 
> I take requests for fanfictions at the link https://booksfanficsandstuff.tumblr.com or in the comments section, the groups I write for are in my profile ^.^

“Guys. Guys. Guys!”

Changkyun startled as Hyungwon jumped over the couch, running towards him. No. Not towards him. Towards Kihyun. He felt his face pale as he noticed the older boy falling by his side, sighing in relief when Hyungwon got to him in time, holding the boy and sitting him down gently.

Changkyun rushed towards his boyfriend, kneeling next to him. Kihyun’s breathing was too fast, his eyes jumping around the room in panic. It made Changkyun want to cry, but he knew he couldn’t, not right now.

“Hyung. Ki hyung, hey, listen to me. It’s ok, hyung, you’re safe. Do you want to move?”

Kihyun shook his head slightly, reaching forward. Changkyun held the boy’s hand, understanding the gesture, and bit back a whine as the older gripped his hand with all the strength he had. Hyungwon stood up, letting Changkyun handle the situation. The maknae had always been the best at helping Kihyun through his panic attacks.

“Ok, then we’ll stay here. You’re doing good, try breathing with me.” Said Changkyun making exaggerated breathing sounds for the older to follow. “That’s good, you’re doing good.”

He kept talking to the boy, assuring him that everything was ok and that he was safe, until, eventually, Kihyun started to come back. He loosened his grip on Changkyun’s hand and his breath slowed down.

When he finally was back to his normal self, however, his eyes filled with tears. Changkyun wanted to murder Minhyuk, but he pushed the thought aside. It wasn’t the time for this. They could settle that later.

“K-kyunnie.”

Called Kihyun. Changkyun’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Kihyun to go into little space.

“Hey, baby. How are you feeling?”

He asked, ignoring the fact that Jooheon and Hyungwon were still there.

“Huwts.”

Mumbled Kihyun, the tears pooled in his eyes falling down his cheek.

“Where does it hurt, baby?”

He asked, worried. Kihyun sniffed and put his hand over his chest.

“Wight here.”

Changkyun couldn’t tell if he was talking about his chest, from breathing so harshly for so long, or about his heart.

“Oh, baby, it’ll be ok. It’ll stop hurting soon, ok?”

Said the maknae, although had no idea if it was true. He dried the older’s tear and closed his eyes for a second, trying to recompose himself, but it was too much. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Hyungwon was looking at him with a worried expression. Changkyun noticed, for the first time, that Hoseok wasn’t in the room anymore.

“He went to talk to Minhyuk.” Explained Hyungwon, reading the question on the younger’s eyes. “C’mon, go get yourself something to drink. We’ll watch him.”

Changkyun looked at Kihyun, uncertain, but sighed and nodded.

“Kihyunnie, Kyunnie will go get something to drink, ok? I’ll be right back, and you can stay with Hyungwon and Jooheonie while I’m not back.”

Kihyun’s lower lip trembled and he shook his head.

“No leave Kiyunnie ‘lone.”

He mumbled. Changkyun took a shaky breath.

“No, baby, not alone. Hyungwon and Jooheonie will stay with you. They’re really nice, you’ll have fun with them.”

He said. Kihyun didn’t seem convinced, until Hyungwon knelt next to Changkyun.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Nice to meet you, I’m Hyungwon.” He said. Changkyun had never heard the older speak so softly. Kihyun tilted his head. “Kyunnie really needs something to drink, can you let him go get something? We can play while he’s not here. What do you say?”

Kihyun looked at Changkyun, then at Hyungwon, then back at Changkyun. The maknae nodded. And then Kihyun nodded too.

“Ok.”

He said. Changkyun smiled, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead and getting up. Hyungwon sat down in front of Kihyun.

Once in the kitchen, Changkyun sat down. He breathed in deeply, trying to put things in order in his mind. He had been scared of telling the others about Kihyun. Of course, it was probably nothing compared to how Kihyun himself felt, but still, he had been nervous. And he hadn’t expected someone to react badly, let alone as bad and Minhyuk had. He shook his head. Minhyuk, who was always smiling and always trying to make people laugh, had been the last person Changkyun expected to react like that.

He got up and grabbed a glass of water. What was done was done, and Hoseok was already talking to Minhyuk. There was nothing he could do now. And, not wanting to leave Kihyun alone for longer than necessary, he quickly finished his water and headed back to the living room.

The scene he found when he entered the living room surprised him. He must have stayed away for longer than he thought, because all of the couch’s cushions were on the floor, Kihyun was standing on one of them, Hyungwon was perched on the couch’s armrest and Jooheon was on the other side of the room, making ugly faces at Kihyun. The little had his eyes wide, looking between the two other boys.

“C’mon, Kihyunnie, you have to be quick, or the lava monster will get you!”

Said Hyungwon, urging the little to go to him. Changkyun looked at the cushions again, only then noticing how they were placed so that you could jump from one to another easily.

“But thewe’s lava!”

Said the little, seeming truly worried as he looked around. Changkyun could see Hyungwon supressing a laugh, but the look in his eyes was fond. The maknae smiled. It was impossible to resist little Kihyun.

“You have to jump on the rocks! C’mon, quickly!”

He said, pointing at the cushions. Jooheon chose this time to groan and whine, walking towards Kihyun slowly. The boy squealed and looked around, quickly jumping to another cushion. He looked back, and seeing Jooheon speed up he whined, jumping to another cushion and then another.

Jooheon continued to make weird noises, walking quickly towards Kihyun, but still slow enough for the boy to run away. Not that Kihyun noticed. The boy seemed to think that Jooheon would really get him any time now, jumping from one cushion for another and looking at Jooheon occasionally, only to squeal and jump again.

Once he was almost reaching the couch, Jooheon sped up. He roared at Kihyun, making the boy let out a little scream.

“Kihyunnie, quickly, jump!”

Said Hyungwon, eyes wide. Kihyun prepared to jump one last time and climbed on the couch, Hyungwon pulling him close. Changkyun couldn’t help but to laugh at the way Jooheon was now pacing around the couch, with Kihyun laughing and showing his tongue to him, only to squeal and cling to Hyungwon when the rapper threatened to get him.

At the sound of Changkyun’s laugh, Kihyun turned around. He gasped.

“Kyunnie, wun! Lava monster!”

He said, pointing at Jooheon. Changkyun looked at the other rapper, who seemed happy enough playing around, and smiled. Maybe things would be ok, after all.

 

Hoseok managed to stop Minhyuk before the younger left the dorm building. He grabbed the boy’s arm just as he was about to open the door, and made him stop.

“Let go of me, hyung.”

Said the younger, voice angry. But Hoseok wasn’t scared. He was pissed, that’s what he was, and wanted to kill Minhyuk for saying what he’d said in front of Kihyun. But he had to control himself. He was sure there was an explanation.

“No. I won’t let go. Now turn around and lets talk like civilized people. Can you do that?”

He asked. Minhyuk huffed, but stopped pulling on his arm and turned around.

“Fine. What do you want?”

Hoseok sighed.

“I want to know why you said those things.”

Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, hyung, think about it. Kihyun is twenty-three and he wants us to feed him and play blocks with him and let him suck on a pacifier, and you think this is normal? It’s not, it’s weird!”

Hoseok sighed. He hadn’t been weirded out by this whole thing, not at all. He’d found all of it cute from the beginning, but he could see Minhyuk’s point. Kind of.

“I know it’s different, Minhyuk, but it helps Kihyun. And it’s not that weird, if you had seen him in little space you…”

“Not that weird? A twenty-three year old walking around with a pacifier in his mouth is not weird? I must be really crazy then.”

Snorted the boy. Hoseok breathed in deeply, trying to avoid throttling the younger.

“Minhyuk, please. Stop judging for a second and think about it. It’s not hurting anyone. It’s not disrespecting anyone. It helps Ki, it makes him less stressed. It helps me, Changkyun and Hyunwoo too, it makes us feel calmer, happier. I’m not asking you to participate in it, but can’t you at least accept it? You don’t have to be part of it, just… just don’t make Ki feel bad about it. He’s already scared enough as it is.”

Minhyuk bit his lip and Hoseok sighed in relief. He knew Minhyuk. The boy wasn’t a bad person, he was just a bit… well, he was too impulsive, reacted too quickly. The older knew that if he could get Minhyuk to rationalize it, the younger would see that he was overreacting.

“Ok. But I refuse to be part of this.”

Hoseok nodded. It was better than nothing. And he had a feeling Minhyuk would come around, eventually.

“Ok. Now let’s go back. I think you own someone an apology.”

 

Hoseok hadn’t expected Kihyun to be in little space after what had happened. Still, when he opened the door, he was met with a mess. Cushions all over the floor, Hyungwon fake crying on the couch, Kihyun reaching towards something on the floor and Jooheon on top of Changkyun, who was trashing around.

“Kyunnie! Kyunnie!”

Said Kihyun, seeming desperate. Hyungwon hugged the boy.

“It’s too late, Kihyunnie, he’s gone.”

Said the boy. Kihyun’s lower lip began to tremble. Jooheon was the first to see and he nudged Changkyun. The maknae looked up and his eyes widened.

“Hey! Kihyunnie, look! I killed the lava monster! I’m ok!”

Kihyun’s eyes widened and he looked at Jooheon, who understood the idea and fell to the ground, his mouth hanging open. Kihyun squealed and clapped, and as Changkyun walked to him he stood up, making grabby hands at the younger, who picked him up.

“Kyunnie ok?”

The little asked, resting his head on Changkyun’s shoulder. Changkyun laughed.

“Yes, baby, I’m ok.”

He reassured the little. Hoseok looked at Minhyuk. The boy was watching the scene, and the older chuckled silently at the curious look on the other’s face. After a second, though, Minhyuk shook his head.

“Call me when he’s not like this anymore. I’ll apologize, then.”

He said, before heading to his room, going unnoticed by the little, but not by the others. They glared at him and he rolled his eyes, but he was beginning to think that maybe he had really overreacted. Not that he wanted any part in that weird stuff. He didn’t. It’s just that… well, Kihyun did look kind of cute.

 

Changkyun put Kihyun down, trying to ignore the way Minhyuk hadn’t talked to them.

“Hey, baby, why don’t you help Hyungwon put things away as I prepare dinner, hum?”

Suggested the maknae. Kihyun pouted, but nodded, walking up to Hyungwon and pulling him by the hand. Changkyun gestured for Hoseok to follow him and the two went to the kitchen, followed by Jooheon. Once there they sat down.

“So, what happened?”

Asked Changkyun. Hoseok sighed.

“I talked to him. You know Minhyuk, he’s the type to act before thinking. Once I got him to think about it, he agreed to apologize. He said he doesn’t want to have anything to do with little Kihyun, but I have a feeling that might change.”

Changkyun sighed.

“Well, it’s better than nothing. I’m not excited to see Kihyun’s reaction to this whole thing when he’s not in little space anymore, though. He’s already so embarrassed about being little, and Minhyuk pretending that his little side doesn’t exist won’t help much.”

Said the maknae. Hoseok nodded, agreeing, but there was nothing they could do. He turned to Jooheon.

“So, what do you think?”

He asked. The boy, who had been just listening, smiled slightly.

“I think Kihyun hyung is adorable. I had fun playing with him.”

The other two smiled. Jooheon liked little Kihyun. That was good.

“He really is adorable. You should see him when he’s sleepy.”

Said Hoseok. Jooheon’s smile grew and he chuckled.

“I bet he’s really cute.”

The other two agreed, smiling as the image of a sleepy little Kihyun came to their minds.

“Well, we better make something. Hyunwoo will be coming home soon and Changkyun did promise to Kihyun that he would make dinner.”

Said Hoseok. Jooheon chuckle.

“Well, you can get started. I’ll call Hyungwon hyung to help, we all know I’m a disaster at cooking.”

He said. The other two laughed and Changkyun nodded, getting up to prepare something as Jooheon left the room.

The rapper was gone for less than two minutes before someone else came in. Changkyun turned around to see Hyungwon standing there, a huge smile on his face. The other two raised their eyebrows at him.

“I got a nickname.” He announced. Hoseok looked at Changkyun, amused, and the maknae supressed a laugh. “He called me Wonwon! It was so cute, I wanted to squish him to death.”

Said the tall boy. At that the other two couldn’t help but to chuckle. It was funny to see Hyungwon, always so quiet, grumpy and meme-like, gush about being called Wonwon. The boy glared at them, which was more like what they were used to. Still, the other two continued to laugh, until Hyungwon pouted and Hoseok took pity on him.

“Don’t worry about it, Hyungwonnie, Changkyunnie is laughing but he almost dies whenever Ki calls him Kyunnie.”

Hyungwon smirked at Changkyun, who showed him his tongue, going back to getting the stuff he needed. Soon, the three boys were working together to make dinner for everyone.  
While Hyungwon cut the carrots, Changkyun and Hoseok exchanged a look that conveyed a lot. Jooheon and Hyungwon liked little Kihyun. They liked him and liked playing with him. Maybe they could use this to counter the effect of Minhyuk’s rejection.

 

Dinner was different. Minhyuk refused to get out of his room, not wanting to see Kihyun while the boy was little, so Hyunwoo took some food for him. Kihyun didn’t seem to notice the boy’s absence, maybe because he was so thrilled at eating at the table with so many people. He was used to eating on the floor of Hoseok’s room with either Hoseok, Changkyun or Hyunwoo, and having everyone together was clearly making him happy.

It was a bit of a challenge to feed the boy, because they didn’t have the adequate items. As Hoseok tried to spoon-feed him noodles and Kihyun used his fingers to help, the older made a mental list. Plastic plate, plastic fork and spoon. At least they had a sippy cup, the boy thought, as Kihyun tilted his cup so much he’d have gotten drenched, had it been a normal cup.

As they ate, Hoseok kept an eye on Hyungwon and Jooheon. He smiled softly as he saw the two boys eyeing Kihyun, both with fond smiles on their faces. He knew it was impossible to resist little Kihyun.

Once they finished, Hoseok looked at Kihyun and sighed. There was noodle soup all over his face and clothes, and a piece of noodle on his hair. Hoseok had no idea how that had gotten there, but that was besides the point. The point was…

“He needs a bath.”

Said Hyunwoo. Changkyun sighed.

“He does. I can do it, hyung, you’ve been working all day.”

Hyunwoo frowned.

“You’ve done enough today, Changkyunnie, I can do it.”

Said the leader. Changkyun opened his mouth to complain, but Hoseok was faster.

“You guys, I worked less than Hyunwoo and spent less time with Kihyunnie. I can…”

Hyungwon cut him before he could finish.

“Hey, stop it, you guys. I’ll do it. Just tell me where his things are.”

Changkyun, Hyunwoo and Hoseok looked at each other for a second. Then Hoseok shrugged and signalled for Hyungwon to follow him.

 

Kihyun squealed as Hyungwon soaped his hands and blew on them, making a bubble come out.

“Wonwon, again!”

He said, laughing. Hyungwon smiled fondly. He had been playing with the boy for ten minutes already, and usually he would be tired and wanting to go to bed, but something about Kihyun’s laughter and genuine smile made all of the tiredness vanish. He could have stayed there all night, but he could see Kihyun’s eyes beginning to droop, and he knew it was time to finish – begin – this bath.

“I’m sorry, Kihyunnie, I’m out of bubbles right now.” He said, sadly. Kihyun pouted and Hyungwon had to fight the urge of pinching his cheeks. “I’ll have more soon, but before that I need to sleep. So we need to shower real quick and go to bed, so that I can make bubbles again. Can you help me?”

Kihyun’s eyes widened and he nodded, closing his eyes and waiting for Hyungwon to shampoo his hair. The older laughed to himself and started washing the boy, feeling slightly embarrassed when he had to soap Kihyun, but letting go of his embarrassment as he noticed the boy didn’t really care about it.

Hoseok had been afraid Kihyun wouldn’t want to shower with Hyungwon, something about him not liking other people seeing him naked. But the boy hadn’t even batted an eyelash as Hyungwon undressed him, and Hoseok had shrugged and said something about Kihyun being a bit littler that day. Hyungwon just found everything adorable.

He finished showering the boy and helped Kihyun out, drying him carefully. He then put the boy on his footed onesie and bit his lip, looking at the pacifier. Should he really give it to Kihyun? Somehow, despite all that had happened, giving the boy the pacifier seemed like something big. Like it would make everything realer, make everything really sink in.

Before Hyungwon could make a decision, though, Kihyun spotted the pacifier and let out a soft whine, opening his mouth. Hyungwon didn’t even hesitate to put the pacifier on the boy’s mouth, and this time he couldn’t help but to pinch Kihyun’s cheek. He looked absolutely adorable.

 

Hoseok was on his phone when Hyungwon entered the room, carrying a sleepy Kihyun. The older looked up, making room on his bed for Hyungwon to lay the boy down. The vocalist did so and Kihyun immediately turned around, clinging to Hoseok and burying his face on the older’s chest. Hoseok put a protective arm around him, pulling him closer. Hyungwon smiled, not sure if it was because of Kihyun, because of Hoseok or both.

“Thanks, Hyungwonnie.”

Said the older. Hyungwon blushed a bit at the nickname.

“It’s nothing. It was fun showering him.”

Hoseok shook his head.

“Not about that. For accepting him. For not judging, for playing with him, for loving him the way he deserves.”

Hyungwon smiled. He could tell that although Kihyun was the little, the others were so completely whipped for the boy that anything that affected Kihyun affected them equally.

“You said it yourself, hyung, he deserves it.”

He said. Hoseok nodded.

“He does. Unfortunately, seems like we don’t all think like that.”

Hyungwon sighed, his mind going back to that afternoon. Minhyuk’s reaction had been unexpected, and he could still see how Kihyun’s face had gotten paler by the second, how much Minhyuk’s words had affected him. But he knew Minhyuk. He knew things would work out, one way or another.

“Don’t worry, hyung. You said so yourself, it’s a matter of time.”

“I hope you’re right, Hyungwonnie.” On his arms, Kihyun whined and pressed closer. Hyungwon and Hoseok chuckled. “Goodnight, Hyungwonnie.”

Said Hoseok.

“Goodnight.”

Answered Hyungwon, before leaving quietly, a small smile still in his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? If you have any suggestions or situations in want to see in this story, leave it in the comments!! I need to know what you guys want to read ^.^


	8. The Aftermath Pt.1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but no little Kihyun this chapter, just a whole lot of badly written angst (I'm sorry). But next chapter will have little Kihyun, and it'll be up reeeeeally soon!!  
> As usual, leave any suggestions in the comments ^.^

Breakfast was awkward. The ride to Startship was awkward. Practice was awkward. Everything was awkward and Kihyun wanted nothing more than to hit himself repeatedly, because it was all his fault. If only he was normal, now they wouldn’t be in this situation. Minhyuk wouldn’t be looking at him like he was a freak and the others wouldn’t be taking turns to look at him worriedly and glare at Minhyuk.

Usually, practice was filled with banter and laughter in between run-throughs of the choreography. Now it was just quiet and tense, and it was getting on Kihyun’s nerves and making him feel physically sick. Which is why as soon as Hyunwoo announced that they could take a break, after what felt like an eternity, Kihyun was the first one out the door. He didn’t want to look at the others, he didn’t want to be in the same space as them anytime soon. He knew he only had fifteen minutes of freedom, but it was better than nothing.

He headed to Changkyun’s studio. It wasn’t the best place to hide and brought memories of the day the maknae had found out about Kihyun, but it was the quietest place he could think of, where the others wouldn’t go looking for him. He sat down on the couch and sighed, rubbing his face.

He hadn’t been in little space anymore when he woke up that morning, and the first thing that had come to his mind was Minhyuk’s face. The way he had looked at Kihyun like he was a freak – Kihyun agreed – and said that this wasn’t normal. And it wasn’t like Kihyun didn’t know, it wasn’t like he hadn’t told himself that millions of times, already. But the others had been so nice about him being little that he had let his guard down – and maybe begun to believe them when they said that it was ok –, and to hear Minhyuk saying that it was weird… well, it didn’t feel that great.

He sighed again, trying not to cry. Crying would make him feel little, and he couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Not now, not ever again. He knew he couldn’t do this anymore. He’d already started making sure it wouldn’t happen again.

 

Hoseok watched as Kihyun left the room and turned around to glare at Minhyuk. The boy was looking at the door, as well, and when his eyes met Hoseok’s he huffed.

“What, now, hyung?”

He asked. Hoseok’s glare deepened.

“I told you to apologize.”

He said. Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

“I will, if he lets me. He’s been running away since he woke up.”

Answered the younger. Hoseok sighed, but he knew better than to discuss with the other.

“Just talk to him when he comes back, ok?”

He asked. Minhyuk shrugged, but nodded, before leaving the room to get something to drink.

Once he was out of the room and everyone settled down to relax on their short break, Changkyun walked up to Hoseok.

“Are you ok, hyung? You weren’t this angry yesterday.”

Said the maknae, worried. Hoseok bit his lip, wondering if he should tell the younger. He decided he should. Changkyun was Kihyun’s caregiver too, after all.

“He slept with me, yesterday, but when I woke up he wasn’t there.”

He said. Changkyun frowned.

“That’s normal, hyung. You know he’s always embarrassed when he wakes up and isn’t in little space anymore.”

Hoseok shook his head.

“That’s not it. I went to see if he’d put his things away, and they weren’t there. I looked around the room and in his room too, when he was showering, but I couldn’t find them. Neither his pyjamas nor his pacifier.”

Changkyun bit his lip. Now that was a bit more worrying.

“Which… which pacifier was he sleeping with?”

He asked. Hoseok’s sad eyes answered him before the older could.

“The pink one with the stars.”

He said. A lot more worrying. That had been Kihyun’s first pacifier. Hoseok had told Changkyun about when he’d found out that Kihyun was little, back when the boy only had a pacifier and nothing more. Kihyun loved that thing more than anything, it was the easiest way to make him feel little. Changkyun couldn’t see the boy throwing it away, but from what Hoseok was telling…

“He probably just hid them, hyung. I don’t think Ki hyung could throw that pacifier away, even if he wanted. He’s wanted to before, and didn’t do it.”

He said, trying to reassure both, him and Hoseok. The older sighed.

“I don’t know. I hope you’re right.”

He said.

 

Kihyun went back five minutes late on purpose, an attempt to avoid facing the others. He should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. He entered the room to see everyone waiting for him, but when he headed to his spot, Minhyuk stopped him, grabbing his wrist. Kihyun turned around to face the boy.

“What do you want?”

He asked. Minhyuk sighed. He looked a bit… guilty? Kihyun shook his head. He shouldn’t, not when he was right.

“I’m sorry. About yesterday. It just got me by surprise and I overreacted. I won’t say anything about it anymore, just… don’t expect me to participate in this.”

Kihyun chuckled bitterly, ignoring the little sting in his chest.

“You don’t have to worry. No one will participate in anything, anymore.”

He said, before pulling his wrist from Minhyuk’s grasp and walking to his spot. Minhyuk looked at Hoseok, looking half apologetic and half confused. Hoseok frowned. This wasn’t good.

 

After four days, it became obvious that Kihyun was purposefully avoiding getting into little space. Not that the others hadn’t expected it, but they had still hoped that everything would be fine, since Kihyun went into little space right after they’d told the others about it and Minhyuk stormed away. Now, it was obvious that they weren’t so lucky.

At first, Changkyun had said that it was a matter of time. Sometimes Kihyun did go a ‘long’ time – his record was five days – without going into little space, usually when he felt like he would be in the way of others, when he felt like there was no time. Right now he was probably feeling bad about it, courtesy of Minhyuk. ‘Maybe’, had said the maknae, on that first day ‘we just have to wait a little.’

They had waited. Three days later, nothing had changed. Except Kihyun was getting grumpier and grumpier, snapping at the others and complaining more than usual. He hadn’t smiled at all since the day after Minhyuk found out, either, and it was making the others uneasy.

Still, they could do nothing. It wasn’t as if they could just force Kihyun to be little, and whenever they tried to bring the topic up, Kihyun simply got up and left, ignoring whoever was talking to him completely. Hoseok had suggest trying to make him feel little by using his little stuff, but when they looked for it, everything was gone.

“Still think he’s hiding it?”

Had asked Hoseok. Changkyun had just sighed. How were they going to solve this mess?

 

Eight days after the whole Minhyuk incident, nothing had changed. Except Kihyun had now taken to skipping meals and was spending a lot less time with the others, and they could see, through the dark bags under the boy’s eyes, that he wasn’t sleeping enough, either.

Now, on normal circumstances everyone would already be worried. But ever since they’d become Kihyun’s caregivers, they’d become more protective of the boy, even when he wasn’t in little space. Even Hyungwon and Jooheon, who had only seen little Kihyun once, where twitching with the need to take care of the boy.

That night, by the end of the eighth day, Kihyun refused to eat, once again, saying he wasn’t hungry. He’d then headed to the living room to watch TV. The other six had stared after him, all with different expressions. Hoseok thought of yelling at Minhyuk, but the boy’s guilty expression made him hold himself back. It would do them no good to fight right now.

Once they were finished with dinner, Minhyuk and Hyunwoo told the others they were heading out for a while. Everyone could understand the need, considering the suffocating atmosphere that had settled on the dorm on the last few days. Jooheon went to the living room to watch TV with Kihyun and the other three stayed in the kitchen.

“He can’t do this.” Complained Hoseok, once they were alone. “He’s not taking care of himself, he needs to eat and sleep and he isn’t doing it, and he isn’t letting us do it for him. He can’t do this.”

Changkyun had sighed while Hyungwon rubbed Hoseok’s back, trying to calm the older down.

“I know it’s hard, hyung. Do you think I don’t want to just go up to him and force him to eat and rest? I’m his boyfriend, for fuck’s sake.”

Hoseok sighed, but said nothing. Hyungwon was the one who spoke next.

“If only we could make him feel little…”

Changkyun shook his head before the older could finish.

“We don’t even have his things. And it won’t matter. Even if we managed to do that, he’ll be little for a while, and then go back to his adult headspace. And then he’ll beat himself up for slipping and be pissed at us for forcing him, and then he’ll trust us even less.”

Hyungwon sighed, but nodded. The maknae was right.

“Then what can we do?”

Asked Hoseok, and he sounded as helpless as Changkyun felt. It was horrible.

“I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

The three boys sighed and the kitchen went silent.

“I don’t think we can do anything for now.” Said Hyungwon, after a while. “ Let’s see what they’re watching. We can think more about this later.”

He said. Hoseok shrugged and Changkyun nodded, and the three made their way to the living room.

 

Changkyun had spent the last eight days waiting for a sign, an idea, something, to help Kihyun. He hadn’t expected that chance to come while they were watching TV.

There was some drama playing when him, Hoseok and Hyungwon joined Jooheon and Kihyun in front of the TV, and Changkyun couldn’t be less interested in it. But he sat down next to his boyfriend, nonetheless, and when Kihyun shifted closer to him, he figured he could watch a few minutes of the drama. Or a few hours.

He didn’t have to watch much, though, because ten minutes after they settled down, the commercials came on. Changkyun watched the advertisements for cars, and snacks, and then… and then a toy commercial came on. He felt Kihyun stiffen next to him and held his breath. He looked at the older from the corner of his eyes. Kihyun’s eyes were fixated on the TV. And then the older shook his head and got up.

“I-I’m going to the bathroom.”

He announced, seeing Changkyun’s – fake – confused gaze. The maknae nodded and watched the other walk out of the room. He immediately looked at Hoseok, only to see the older already looking at him. Hoseok nodded towards the direction Kihyun had gone. Changkyun got up.

The maknae cautiously walked into his boyfriend’s room. He didn’t know what he was expecting, maybe to find Kihyun pretending to sleep to avoid talking to the others, maybe playing something on his phone, to distract himself. What he didn’t expect was to find Kihyun sitting on the floor, back against the frame of his bed, knees pulled close to his chest and face buried in them.

“Kihyun hyung?”

He called, cautiously. Kihyun’s head shot up and Changkyun’s heart broke when he noticed the tear streaks on his boyfriend’s cheek. The older immediately raised his hand to dry his face, glaring at Changkyun.

“W-what do you want?”

He asked. Changkyun closed the door behind himself.

“Hyung. Why are you doing this to yourself?”

Said the maknae, sitting in front of Kihyun. The older shook his head.

“I’m not doing anything. I’m ok.”

He said. Changkyun couldn’t help but to snort.

“Ok? Hyung, you haven’t been eating. You haven’t been sleeping. You haven’t been talking to us, or doing anything with us, really. We are worried. I am worried. Please, at least talk to me.”

Kihyun bit his lip, clearly trying to keep the tears in his eyes from falling.

“I… I don’t… I hate it so much, Kyunnie. It’s so wrong, and I hate myself for liking it so much, for needing it. I feel it all the time, every time I catch a glimpse of a cartoon, or see a teddy bear on someone’s bed. I can’t even throw those stupid things away, I’ve tried, but I can never bring myself to do it, and I hate it so much, Kyunnie.”

Kihyun had started crying halfway through his speech, but Changkyun had still understood it. He was pretty sure his heart had broken in half, and he wanted nothing more than to hug Kihyun until the boy understood that there was no problem in liking what he liked and that they would love him no matter what. He moved to sit next to the boy and put his arm around Kihyun’s shoulder. The boy buried his face on Changkyun’s neck.

“Hey, it’s ok, Ki. It’s ok. You’ll be ok.”

Was all he said. He knew that anything else he said at the moment would just go way over the boy’s head.

Fifteen minutes later, Kihyun had stopped crying and was simply lying on Changkyun’s shoulder, too tired to move or talk. He had already been exhausted before the whole ordeal, and crying for fifteen minutes straight wasn’t exactly the best way to regain energy.

Changkyun sighed and got up, careful not to jostle the older too much. He helped Kihyun get up and into bed.

“Thank you.”

Mumbled the older, once he was under the covers. Changkyun leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead, but Kihyun didn’t let him. Instead, he leaned up and pecked the boy’s lips. Changkyun sighed silently. He had been so worried lately that he hadn’t even noticed how much he’d missed Kihyun’s lips on his.

“Goodnight, hyung. I love you.”

He said. But Kihyun was already asleep.

 

Changkyun had expected things to be better on the next day. Instead, Kihyun seemed to have gotten worse. He entered the kitchen in the morning without greeting anyone, and avoided Changkyun like the plague. Once the boy was out of the kitchen, having just gotten a glass of water, without eating anything, the others turned to look at Changkyun. The maknae shrugged, as lost as them.

Throughout the day he tried to talk to Kihyun, without success. The older simply gave him short, dry answers, walking away to do something else whenever the maknae tried to talk to him. Changkyun was going crazy.

“He’s probably pissed at himself for slipping yesterday. I mean, he actually confessed that he wants to go into little space. He’s probably beating himself up about it.”

Said Hoseok, when the maknae explained to him what had happened the night before. Changkyun sighed. It made sense. He shook his head.

“I thought I would get somewhere. I guess not.”

He said. Hoseok rubbed his back, trying to comfort the maknae, but his own expression didn’t pass much hope to the younger.

 

Things came to a head later that day, during practice. Kihyun had been off ever since the incident with Minhyuk, but given the situation, Hyunwoo was being more lenient towards him. That day, however, the boy was worse than ever, and it didn’t help that he snapped at anyone who tried talking to him. But it was only when Minhyuk complained that the problem really began. 

“Kihyun, for fucks sake, can you please stop fucking up?”

Said the boy, angrily, when Hyunwoo stopped the song for the thirteenth time in half an hour. Kihyun slowly looked up, face scarily blank.

“What the fuck did you say?”

He asked. Minhyuk crossed his arms.

“I said: stop fucking up.”

Repeated the boy. The other five were watching the exchange, not quite sure of what to do.

“Why don’t you take care of your fucking life and leave me the fuck alone?”

Said Kihyun, glaring at the other boy. Minhyuk scoffed.

“I am trying to take care of my life, but you fucking up the choreography is getting in the way.”

He said. Changkyun noticed the way Kihyun was tightening his hands into fists and cursed under his breath. This wouldn’t end up well.

“Guys, let’s just…”

Started Hyunwoo, only to be interrupted by Kihyun.

“Like you’re any good yourself! You’re always fucking up, and no one ever complains!”

He screamed. Minhyuk’s own hand twitched.

“Look, I don’t want to fight, ok? So just accept you’ve fucked up, learn to take criticism, and stop being a baby about it!”

‘Oh shit’, thought Changkyun. Kihyun’s cheeks flushed red and if looks could kill, Minhyuk would be powder by now.

“I’m not a baby!”

Screamed the shorter boy. And then he launched forward.

None of them expected what happened next. Kihyun was a pacific person. Even when he fought with someone, he never let things get physical. Until that exact moment, when he shoved Minhyuk so hard that there would probably be bruises where Kihyun’s hands had pushed.

Minhyuk fell on the floor with an ‘oof’ and looked up, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Hoseok saw what was going to happen before anyone did and ran to Kihyun, holding him back before he could punch Minhyuk on the face.

“Ki, hey, calm down.”

He tried. Kihyun trashed around in his hold.

“Let me go! He deserves it!”

He screamed. Hoseok tightened his hold, pulling the younger away. Changkyun hurried to help him as Hyungwon hurried to see if Minhyuk was ok.

After a while, Hoseok and Changkyun managed to get a kicking and screaming Kihyun out of the practice room. Once outside, the boy slowly stopped fighting against Hoseok and the older loosened his grip.

“We can go to my studio.”

Said Changkyun, once he made sure it was safe to let go of the older. Hoseok nodded. Changkyun’s studio was the only place where there was no chance of them being disturbed.

Once in the studio, Changkyun looked at Hoseok and the older nodded. The maknae sighed and let go of Kihyun, leaving the room. And then it was just Kihyun and Hoseok, sitting on the couch of Changkyun’s studio.

“Ki…” Tried Hoseok. And it was what took for Kihyun to bury his face in his hands and start crying. Hoseok closed his eyes, trying to get himself together. He needed to be strong for Kihyun. “Please don’t cry, Ki.”

He said, opening his eyes and pulling the younger closer. Surprisingly, Kihyun let himself be hugged, even if he didn’t bury his face against Hoseok’s chest like he usually did.

“Why am I like this? Why… why cant I-I just b-be normal?”

Asked the boy. Hoseok ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his own tears in.

“Ki, you are normal. You…”

Kihyun interrupted him.

“No, I’m not. I’m a freak, that’s what I am. What type of twenty-three year old would want to be treated like a toddler? This isn’t normal at all!”

Hoseok sighed, recognizing Minhyuk’s words from the day he’d found out. He considered what Changkyun had told him about the previous night. Kihyun still felt little. He still wanted it. He was just convinced that it was wrong. If he could convince him otherwise...

“Kihyun. Look at me.” He said, after a second. Kihyun obeyed, tears still falling from his eyes. “You. Are. Normal. Ok? Minhyuk is stupid and impulsive, and he didn’t mean what he said, so ignore him. Forget about it. He was wrong. This is a part of who you are, Ki. You can’t get rid of it like this. And you don’t have to. We love you, adult you and little you, and we’ll keep loving you no matter what. What you’re doing… it isn’t healthy. You can’t keep fighting it forever. Please, Ki, let us take care of you. Please.”

Kihyun was looking at him, mouth slightly open eyes searching for something on Hoseok’s own. And then he sighed, looking down.

“I’m so scared, hyung.”

He mumbled, letting his head fall against Hoseok’s chest. The older’s breath hitched. He swallowed, trying to calm down. Kihyun was clearly hurting, and Hoseok just wanted to make it all go away. He knew that whatever he said next had the power to either make things incredibly better or fuck everything up.

“You don’t have to be. I won’t let anything happen to you, Ki. Ever. None of us will. You’re too precious to us. Whenever you’re sad, or scared, or hurt, we will be there. We will always be with you, no matter what. Can you trust me?”

Kihyun didn’t move for a second, and Hoseok held his breath. And then the younger nodded against his chest, and Hoseok sighed in relief, wrapping his arms around the boy and pulling Kihyun to sit on his lap. The younger didn’t fight against it, letting himself be handled and putting his own arms around Hoseok. The older breathed in deeply. Things would get better.

 

They stayed like that for a while, before Kihyun spoke up.

“We have to go back to practice, hyung.”

He said, although it was clear he didn’t want to go back.

“No, we don’t. I’m taking you home.”

Said Hoseok. Kihyun leaned back to look at the older.

“But… I still need to learn the choreography, and I have to apologize to Minhyuk, and…”

Hoseok shook his head.

“You need to eat and rest, that’s what you need, so that you can focus on practice tomorrow. And Minhyuk can wait. He’s at fault, too, he was being an arsehole.”

Said Hoseok. He wasn’t exactly too happy with Minhyuk at the moment. He knew the boy didn’t mean what he said, but with the way they’d all been on edge recently, the littlest of incidents felt like a lot. He needed time to forgive the younger. Kihyun sighed.

“I… I guess you’re right.”

He said. Hoseok smiled.

“Of course I am.” He said, to which Kihyun rolled his eyes. “Now let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter sucks too much, guys, I was stuck :(  
> But the next one will be better, angst is just not my forte


	9. The Aftermath Pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestions can be left in the comments! Anything specific you want to see little Kihyun doing? Any ideas?
> 
> I take requests for fanfictions at the link https://booksfanficsandstuff.tumblr.com or in the comments section, the groups I write for are in my profile ^.^

Hoseok wasn’t surprised when Hyungwon and Changkyun refused to let him go home alone with Kihyun. He also wasn’t surprised when Minhyuk said he’d keep practicing and Jooheon said he’d stay with the older. Hyunwoo also didn’t seem surprised, only rolling his eyes and telling them that he would make an exception, given the circumstances. And like that, Changkyun, Hyungwon and Hoseok headed home with Kihyun.

As they walked home, Hoseok could see that Kihyun was uncomfortable. The boy kept playing with the hem of his shirt and looking at the ground, barely participating on the conversation the others were having. The older sighed. He knew it would take a while for things to go back to normal, but he couldn’t help but to wish that everything would just pop into place immediately.

As it was, he silently motioned for the other two to keep talking and moved so he was next to Kihyun. He then nudged the boy, offering his hand when Kihyun looked up. The younger looked at the extended hand and blushed, biting on his bottom lip, but after a second of hesitation he took it, looking down immediately. Hoseok smiled. This was good.

Changkyun, noticing the other two holding hands, pouted at Hoseok. The older rolled his eyes and Changkyun showed him his tongue, all without letting Kihyun see. But Hoseok knew the maknae understood. If it were Changkyun holding Kihyun’s hand, it would be easy for the older boy to pretend that it was simply a stroll with his boyfriend. They didn’t want that. They wanted Kihyun to feel little, to allow himself that feeling. Changkyun could have his go on another situation.

When they got home, Hoseok helped Kihyun take off his shoes. He didn’t want to force the boy into anything, but he could see, clear as day, the signs that Kihyun was feeling little. The boy had spent the last two blocks biting on the tip of his thumb, and when they passed a kid with a balloon on the street, Kihyun’s eyes had widened in clear want. So Hoseok, Changkyun and Hyungwon had exchanged a glance and silently decided that they would test the waters.

After helping Kihyun with his shoes, Hoseok took the boy by the hand to the living room. He sat Kihyun on the sofa sat next to him, picking up the remote, while Changkyun and Hyungwon headed to the kitchen, no doubt to search for snacks.

“What do you want to watch, Ki?”

He asked, softly. Kihyun shrugged. Hoseok sighed. Then, instead of choosing a channel, he got up to look through their DVDs. He felt Kihyun looking at him, trying to see what he was doing, and smiled. As much as he tried to feign disinterest, Kihyun was obviously eager to know what the older would choose.

At the exact moment Hyungwon and Changkyun entered the room, Hoseok pulled out a DVD, smiling triumphantly.

“Spirited Away!”

He said, happily. He could see Kihyun’s eyes shinning. Kihyun had never been able to resist that movie.

“Oh, I love that movie!”

Came Hyungwon, sitting next to Kihyun with a bag of dried apples in hand. He offered them to the boy, who shyly took two pieces before nibbling on them. Hoseok smiled. Hyungwon had sounded and looked nonchalant, but the way he was watching Kihyun munch on the apples made it obvious that he had planned this action carefully to get the boy to eat.

“Me too, so shut up and let’s watch it.”

Said Changkyun. Throwing a chip at the older boy. Hyungwon glared at him, but simply picked the chip up and ate it. Kihyun let out a little giggle, quickly covering his mouth, a blush rising to his cheeks. Hoseok couldn’t help but to smile. Things would definitely get better.

He put the movie on and started it, rushing to sit on Kihyun’s other side. The movie started playing and in less than five minutes Kihyun was looking at the TV intently, eyes shining while he absentmindedly ate the apples that Hyungwon had brought. The other three, on the other hand, instead of watching the movie were watching Kihyun. It was quite a sight.

For a while nothing happened. Kihyun was focused on the movie, and Changkyun and Hyungwon ended up also turned to watch it. Hoseok, however, continued to watch the younger boy by his side. Which is why he was the one who noticed Kihyun starting to slip into little space. When the boy started to rub his lower lip with his thumb, Hoseok nudged him.

“Where did you put your things?”

He asked once the younger looked at him, voice low enough that only Kihyun heard. The boy blushed, lowering his hand, but closed his hand around the little chain in his neck. He then took it out and handed it to Hoseok. The older noticed the chain held a little key.

“It’s in my drawer.”

He said. Hoseok noticed the way his lisp was more pronounced than usual and had to keep himself from doing a little victory dance. Instead, he nodded and got up heading to the younger’s room.

Once inside the room, it was easy to find the drawer Kihyun was talking about. It was big, taking half of his bedside table, and had a little lock on it. Hoseok carefully opened it, and sighed in relief. All of Kihyun’s things were there. He hadn’t thrown anything away. There were his clothes, his sippy cup, his colouring books, stuffed animals and his pacifiers. Hoseok picked the pink pacifier up knowing it was Kihyun’s favourite, and then frowned. Where was the stuffed bunny he’d given Kihyun?

The boy looked around the room, a bit lost. All of Kihyun’s things were in that drawer, probably an attempt of the boy to not feel little. So… where was the bunny? Hoseok looked around the room, on the floor, under the beds, on Kihyun’s closet, with no success.

He was almost giving up, believing it was the only thing Kihyun had actually managed to get rid of, when he noticed something poking out from under Kihyun’s pillow. He went closer and a smile took his face. Even with all the effort to stuff those things away, Kihyun hadn’t been able to let go of his bunny. Hoseok was right. Being little was part of him.

He went back to the living room, after locking the drawer again, and sat down next to Kihyun. The boy was so absorbed in the movie that he didn’t even flinch when the older snuggled closer to him, putting a hand protectively around his waist. Hoseok almost felt bad for disrupting the boy, but he figured there was no time better than that. He nudged the boy again and showed him the bunny.

Kihyun’s eyes widened when the item was shown to him. He made to grab it, but stopped midway. He looked at Hoseok, biting his lip. The older smiled encouragingly and motioned towards the toy. Kihyun carefully took it, hugging the toy close to his chest with a happy sigh. Hoseok pulled him a bit closer and Kihyun lied on his shoulder. Hoseok couldn’t stop smiling.

He looked at Hyungwon, then at Changkyun, only to find both boys smiling widely. Hoseok took the pacifier from his pocket and showed them. Hyungwon continued to smile, but Changkyun almost jumped from his chair in joy. Hoseok knew how worried he’d been about Kihyun throwing his things away, having had the exact same fear.

He smiled and got comfortable. Kihyun was back to watching the movie, and Hoseok went back to watching him. It took less than ten minutes for the boy to start rubbing his bottom lip again. This time around, Hoseok gently held his wrist and showed the boy his pacifier.

Kihyun blushed bright red at the item and Hoseok noticed his grip on his stuffed bunny tightening. His heart started beating faster. Had he moved too fast? Would Kihyun freak out? Had he ruined everything? He forced himself to take a deep breath, willing himself to seem calm and secure. The last thing Kihyun needed was for him to panic.

“Hyung…”

Whined the boy, seeming embarrassed. But there was something else on his eyes. Want. Kihyun wanted to take the pacifier, wanted to go into little space. He just needed someone to tell him it was ok.

“You can take it. Don’t worry, I’m right here with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

Kihyun looked at him one more time and then grabbed the pacifier.

Hoseok was surprised at how fast Kihyun regressed. The boy had told him, a while back, that it was easy to put him in little space. Usually just seeing his bunny or his pacifier was enough, especially if he was already feeling little. But he hadn’t expected the change to be so immediate and blatant.

Kihyun immediately started sucking on the pacifier, pulling his stuffed bunny closer and snuggling up to Hoseok. The older was lost for a second, before understanding that Kihyun had gone fully into little space. He carefully pulled the boy to seat on his lap, and Kihyun let himself be handled, slumping against Hoseok, eyes focused on the TV. The older turned to the other two in the room.

Changkyun and Hyungwon were both staring at the scene with huge smiles on their faces. Hoseok smiled back, delighted, and the other two chuckled. Hoseok knew they were laughing in relief. It had been a tense week – more than a week, even – and to finally see things going back to normal was amazing.

He didn’t even notice he’d started laughing too, until Kihyun whined on his lap.

“Appa shh.”

He complained, frowning. Hoseok couldn’t believe how much he’d missed hearing the boy call him that. He didn’t care that the boy had just basically told him to shut up, he was just happy to have his baby back.

“I’m sorry, baby, appa is just happy.”

Kihyun turned to look at him.

“Appa happy?”

He asked. Hoseok smiled and nodded.

“Yes, baby, I’m very happy because I get to spend time with you.”

Kihyun smiled.

“Appa happy, Kiyunnie happy.” He said, before turning to Changkyun and Hyungwon. “Kyunnie happy? Wonwon happy?”

He asked. Hoseok just wanted to squish the boy, and he could tell the other two felt the same.

“We’re happy too, Kihyunnie, it’s impossible not to be happy with a cutie like you around.”

Kihyun giggled and hid his face in Hoseok’s chest. The older didn’t restrain himself this time, squeezing the boy’s cheeks and making Kihyun giggle more.

“Kiyunnie happy too.”

He said, sighing, before promptly falling asleep on Hoseok, the movie he’d been so interested in completely forgotten.

 

“I missed him so much, hyung.”

Said Changkyun, combing his hand through Kihyun’s hair. Hoseok had passed the sleeping boy to him when his legs started going numb, and was now standing in front of the two, Hyungwon by his side.

“Yeah, I did too.”

He said, sighing happily at the sight of Kihyun asleep with his pacifier and stuffed bunny.

“I still think he shouldn’t be in these clothes.”

Chastised Hyungwon, for the third time already. Hoseok laughed. Trust him to take the ‘mom’ role when Kihyun was unavailable.

“We don’t want to wake him up. We’ll dress him more appropriately when he wakes up, Hyungwonnie.”

He said, using the nickname on purpose. For some reason, it made Hyungwon stop arguing. Hoseok still had to find out why.

As expected, the boy huffed, but stopped complaining. He knew they were right, anyways. It just felt wrong for Kihyun to be asleep in his practice clothes, especially since he was little.

“He won’t sleep for much longer, anyways. We should wake him up soon, so he sleeps at night.”

Said Changkyun. Hoseok nodded, agreeing, and Hyungwon seemed a bit happier now. At this moment, as if disagreeing with their opinion on how much he should sleep, Kihyun whined and turned in his sleep, gripping Changkyun’s shirt with the hand that wasn’t holding his bunny. The other three laughed at the adorable scene, and Hoseok and Hyungwon went off to prepare something to eat for when the boy woke up.

 

Once dinner was ready, Hoseok picked Kihyun up to give Changkyun time to stretch a bit before they settled down to eat. He then started softly combing his hand through the boy’s hair.

“Kihyunnie, time to wake up. C’mon, baby.” Kihyun whined and hid his face on Hoseok’s shoulder, tightening his grip on the older’s shirt. “C’mon, baby, there’s food waiting for you. You have to eat, to be strong and have energy to play a lot.”

At the mention of food and playing, Kihyun immediately got up from his hiding place. He looked at Hoseok, still sleepy, but curious.

“We eat?” He asked. Hoseok smiled and nodded. Kihyun smiled behind his pacifier and hummed happily. “Appa, eat!”

He said, bouncing on Hoseok’s lap. The older chuckled.

“In a second, baby. Let’s just put you in some more comfortable clothes before Wonwon starts complaining again.”

He said. Kihyun frowned. obviously failing to see the logic, but let himself be taken to the room without much fuss.

Once the boy was in his onesie, Hoseok took the boy to the kitchen he sat him down. They still hadn’t bought the plastic utensils, too busy with the mess that Minhyuk had created. Thankfully, Kihyun didn’t seem to be in the mood for eating on his own, happy enough with Hoseok feeding him. He ate everything in his plate, drinking his apple juice from his sippy cup in between bites, and the three caregivers were delighted, after days of seeing the boy skip meal after meal.

“You’re so good, Kihyunnie, eating everything like a good boy.”

Kihyun beamed at the praise, opening his mouth and waiting for more food. Hoseok chuckled and fed him, eating from his plate while the younger chewed.

After eating, Hoseok volunteered to wash the dishes, since he hadn’t helped cook, and the other two headed to the living room to play with Kihyun. It wasn’t long before the older joined them, finding the three sprawled on the floor. He raised an eyebrow and Changkyun, who noticed him entering the room, laughed.

“We glued them like this to have more space, hyung.”

He said, explaining why there were six pieces of paper glued to the floor, forming one big paper where the three boys were drawing. Hoseok chuckled and sat down, picking up a pencil.

It didn’t take long for Kihyun to give up on the papers glued to the floor and take a new one from the stack. Hoseok eyed him curiously, apologizing when Kihyun glared at him and hid his drawing. He looked at Changkyun, but the maknae was too focused on his drawing. He then tried Hyungwon, but the boy only shrugged, also confused about Kihyun’s motive.

They found out half an hour later, when Kihyun pulled Hoseok’s sleeve and shoved a drawing in his face. Hoseok looked at it, trying to understand. On the paper there were four stick figures, a smiling sun, a butterfly and a tree. Hoseok wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say.

“This is beautiful, Kihyunnie! Can you explain it to me?”

Kihyun nodded, taking the picture.

“This Kiyunnie. And this appa and Kyunnie, and this Wonwon.” He explained, pointing at each stick figure. Hoseok raised an eyebrow. Hyungwon and Changkyun were also paying attention. “We happy together!”

He said, pushing the picture towards Hoseok. The boy stared at it, surprised, before smiling widely. He would so boast about it to Hyunwoo and Jooheon. He took the picture up.

“It’s beautiful, Kihyunnie. Do you want appa to put this up? We can hang it in appa’s room.”

Kihyun’s eyes shone and his mouth opened in awe.

“We can?”

He asked. Hoseok nodded enthusiastically. Kihyun squealed and got up, pulling Hoseok by the hand to the older’s room. The older stood up, letting himself be pulled, and headed to the room.

 

When Jooheon, Minhyuk and Hyunwoo went back, the other four were in the living room, Hoseok and Changkyun cleaning up and Hyungwon sitting on the couch, a sleepy Kihyun on his lap. As the three entered the room, all eyes travelled between Kihyun and Minhyuk.

“He let you…?”

Started Hyunwoo, taking the attention from Minhyuk and motioning towards Kihyun. Hoseok was the one to answer, nodding.

“He needed someone to tell him it was alright. I think it’ll be easier from now on.”

Hyunwoo nodded, before walking up to where Kihyun and Hyungwon were.

“Hey there, Kihyunnie.”

He called. Kihyun opened his eyes slightly, giving a sleepy smile from behind his pacifier.

“Hyuhyu.”

Said the boy, smiling when Hyunwoo ran a hand through his hair.

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?”

Asked the leader.

“Kiyunnie sleepy.”

Said the boy. Hyunwoo chuckled. He was probably half asleep already, if he was admitting to being tired.

“Well, I’ll let you sleep then.”

He said, pressing a kiss to the boy’s forehead. He then joined the other, picking up crayons, drawings and paper planes. Jooheon also went up to the little, simply kissing his cheek, before wishing everyone a goodnight and going to his room. And then Minhyuk was the only one left still by the door. His eyes were fixed on Kihyun.

“He’s really sucking on it.”

He said, seeming in awe more than anything. Hoseok frowned.

“Of course he is.”

He said. Minhyuk turned to him, startled, not having expected anyone to say anything.

“Sorry. It’s just… weird.”

Hoseok huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, you’ve said so already. From now on, please try to keep that to yourself when Kihyun is around.”

Said the older, gathering up everything he’d pilled up and motioning for Hyungwon to follow him. The boy did, carefully getting up as to not wake the boy in his arms, and followed Hoseok. Changkyun watched the two go, before turning to Minhyuk.

“Hoseok hyung is right, hyung. Please don’t say stuff like that in front of Kihyun hyung. He’s already embarrassed enough about this without you saying that it’s weird. Again, I mean.”

He said. His tone was friendly, but it was obvious that he also resented the older.

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing.”

Mumbled Minhyuk. But everyone else was already gone.

 

When Hoseok woke up and Kihyun wasn’t by his side, he panicked a little. He sat up, looking around, and breathed in, relieved. Kihyun’s onesie and pacifier were on his bedside table, his bunny being the only thing missing. And Hoseok had a good guess where that was. A bit calmer, he stretched before getting up.

He headed to the kitchen, and as expected there was Kihyun, sitting on the counter, drinking something from a mug. Hoseok smiled at him and the boy smiled back. Hoseok couldn’t help but to sigh in relief once again. Kihyun seemed fine.

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

Asked the older. Kihyun’s cheeks reddened a little, but he was still smiling.

“I’m good. Better than I’ve been in a while.”

He admitted. Hoseok smiled.

“That’s good.”

They were silent for a while as the older got himself a cup of water, and as he sat next to Kihyun the boy spoke up.

“I… thank you, hyung.” He said, playing with his mug. “For not giving up on me.”

Hoseok rubbed the boy’s knee.

“We could never do that, Ki. I meant what I said yesterday, about being precious to us. You are. Whether you’re little or big or whatever. We love you no matter what.”

Kihyun nodded, and there were tears in his eyes, but they weren’t sad, this time.

“I love you guys too, you know?”

Hoseok nodded.

“We know.”

Another second of silence. Kihyun seemed like he was trying to gather courage to say something.

“Thank you for… for helping me feel little, yesterday.”

Hoseok nodded again, but this was a more delicate subject.

“You know we don’t mind that. We like taking care of you.”

He said, carefully. Kihyun shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant. Just… yesterday. I really needed it. And you noticed and you helped me, but didn’t… you didn’t push me. Thank you for that, hyung.”

The older put a hand around Kihyun’s waist and pulled the boy closer. Kihyun let his head fall on the other’s shoulder.

“I mean, it’s not that hard to tell when you’re feeling little, Ki. And you’d been neglecting yourself for days. Never do that again, by the way, I will eviscerate you. The point is, I could tell you were just too scared to ask. And I want to tell you that you don’t have to be.”

Kihyun didn’t say anything for a while, then sighed and nodded.

“I’ll keep that in mind. You might need to help me remember it.”

Hoseok smiled.

“It’ll be my pleasure.”

He said, squeezing Kihyun’s waist. Things were definitely looking better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it good? Is it bad? I don't know, I hope you liked it ^.^


	10. Changki Rise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Chanki, with little Kihyun and with big Kihyun
> 
> Do you guys have any requests? If so, leave them in the comments ^.^

Kihyun was sitting on the floor of the practice room, eyes closed as he enjoyed the last few minutes of their break, when something fell on top of him. Or rather, someone. He opened his eyes, although he already knew what he’d find, and huffed as he came face to face with Changkyun.

“Yah, get off.”

Said the singer, shoving his boyfriend away half-heartedly. It did nothing to move the boy, who only smiled more before pecking Kihyun on the lips. The older blushed.

“What was that for?”

He asked, embarrassed as he noticed the others eyeing them. Not that they didn’t know, they did; but the idea of kissing Changkyun in front of them made him squirm and blush, and it wasn’t the time for that. They had two minutes left before practice started again.

“What, can’t I kiss my boyfriend, hyung?”

The younger asked, cheekily. Kihyun rolled his eyes, although the word ‘boyfriend’ sent a shiver down his spine.

“Sure you can, why don’t you go find him and do just that?”

He asked, trying to hide how giddy he was because of how close they were, bodies touching from waist to chest. Changkyun chuckled, completely unaffected by Kihyun’s grumpy answer.

“Well, if you insist.”

He said, proceeding to press his lips to Kihyun’s again. This time around, though, it wasn’t just a simple peck. Changkyun kissed him hard, running his tongue on Kihyun’s bottom lip, which made the older open his mouth, only half intentionally. He could feel the younger smirking against his mouth, and he would have shoved him away if he hadn’t already melted under the boy’s touch.

“Oh, will you please stop? You can kiss, but I don’t want to see you guys having sex, thank you very much.”

Changkyun smirked again, before biting on Kihyun’s bottom lip and sucking on it. And then he was gone, getting up from Kihyun’s lap and leaving the older blushing and trying to hide his face in his hands.

“C’mon, hyung, break is over.”

Called Changkyun. Kihyun glared at him. He was going to kill that little shit.

 

“Hyung, are you upset with me?”

Asked Changkyun. Kihyun looked up from where he was sitting down on his bed and raised an eyebrow. He made space for the younger and patted the bed, motioning for the boy to sit.

“Where did that even come from, Kyunnie?”

Asked the singer once the other sat down, resting a comforting hand on his boyfriend’s thigh. The younger shrugged.

“Well, you were acting weird on the way back, so I thought you were angry about the thing in the practice room.”

He said. The thing in the practice room. Or, more specifically, their impromptu – and admittedly very short - make out session, to which Kihyun had not agreed.

“I wasn’t upset. I was just… I was embarrassed, ok? We never kiss in front of them, it was just a bit too much.”

He admitted, crossing his arms to feel less exposed. He hated talking about his feelings, it was something that only Changkyun could get out of him somewhat easily. The younger nodded.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, hyung.”

He said. Kihyun eyed his boyfriend, who was fiddling with the comforter, seeming dejected. He sighed.

“Well… they’re not here now.”

He said. This made Changkyun look up, searching the older’s eyes for something. He seemed to find it, because he smirked.

“You’re right, they’re not.”

He said, and put a hand on the back of Kihyun’s neck, pulling him closer. The older let himself be handled, and in less than a minute he was on Changkyun’s lap, trying to keep up with the younger’s pace and wondering how he’d gotten so lucky.

They were called for dinner half an hour later, and Kihyun groaned, frustrated. Changkyun chuckled.

“C’mon, hyung, lets go before they decide to come in.”

Kihyun ignored the way the others were smirking at them as they headed out of the room for dinner. He knew he was blushing, though, and Changkyun laughing at him wasn’t helping.

“Ignore them, hyung. They’re just jealous they don’t have a cute boyfriend like I do.”

Said the maknae, as they were helping set the table. Kihyun rolled his eyes.

“You’re so freaking cheesy. Why am I even dating you?”

Kihyun put up with half an hour of teasing and stupid comments from his band mates as they ate, but he had to say, it was worth it. Because once dinner was over, they all left to their rooms, and Hyungwon winked at him – an extremely weird scene, in Kihyun’s opinion –, letting him know they were doing it so the couple could have the TV for themselves for the night.

Changkyun smiled at him and pulled Kihyun by the hand to sit on the couch, before turning on the TV.

“You know, behind this teasing act, they’re really nice about it.”

Said Changkyun, as they searched for something to watch. Kihyun snorted.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen so much niceness in a single room.”

He said, rolling his eyes. But if he was being honest, he agreed with Changkyun. The others may tease them and complain about their PDA – as if Kihyun let that happen often… –, but in reality they were really supportive of their relationship. They gave the two boys space and Kihyun had caught Hoseok cooing at them more than once. So, yeah. They were nice. Not that he’d say that out loud.

“You’re terrible, hyung. C’mon, what do you want to watch?”

Asked the younger, who was still flipping through channels. Kihyun shrugged.

“Anything is ok.”

He said. Changkyun glanced at his boyfriend. Kihyun was chewing on his lower lip, seeming slightly nervous. The maknae smiled fondly. He wondered if the older would ever stop being embarrassed about initiating things between them. Part of him hoped he wouldn’t.

He stopped at some random channel, where some movie was playing. And then he turned to Kihyun and kissed him with no warning whatsoever. The older gasped, startled, before melting against Changkyun. The maknae pulled him closer and tilted his head to deepen their kiss.

 

Kihyun and Changkyun were cuddling, after making out for quite some time. They had stopped halfway, before things got too heated, because neither of them was ready to go… well, all the way. They’d talked about it – it had been an… interesting conversation –, and come to the conclusion that they’d wait. It’s not like they didn’t have time, after all. So now they were cuddling, watching the movie that had started halfway through their make out session.

The thing was… it was an animated movie. Kihyun hadn’t noticed it before, because he was too busy kissing his boyfriend. But now that they’d actually settled down to watch the movie, it was beginning to be a problem. He thought back to the last time he’d been little. It had been four days earlier, maybe five.

Ever since the incident with Minhyuk, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t go into little space if the older was home. He hadn’t told the others about his decision. He knew they’d try to convince him not to do that, and he didn’t want to fight with them. But he wasn’t ready to be in little space with Minhyuk around. He was still having a hard time admitting that he wanted to go into little space at all. So he kept his decision to himself.

But this meant that there were fewer opportunities for him to be little. Half of the times he felt little he had to push it back, because Minhyuk was home. Sometimes, he went days without going into little space. He knew Hoseok could tell something was still wrong, but the boy didn’t push him, for which Kihyun was glad. He let Kihyun be, paid attention to his signs and always asked if Kihyun was feeling little, when he thought the younger might be. But if Kihyun said he wasn’t, Hoseok accepted the answer and backed away. Kihyun reminded himself to thank him, one day.

“Changkyunnie… can… can we watch something else?”

He asked, softly. Changkyun turned to look at him, seeming confused, before understanding filled his eyes.

“Are… are you feeling little, hyung?”

Kihyun blushed. He was always embarrassed when the others asked him that.

“N-no, I’m just… I’m just bored.”

He said. Bad excuse. Changkyun knew perfectly well that Kihyun liked that movie.

“Hyung. You don’t have to avoid it. It’s ok.”

He said, and his tone was so soft and encouraging that Kihyun almost dropped into little space right then and there. But he couldn’t. Minhyuk was home, and this was supposed to be his night with Changkyun as his boyfriend, not his caregiver.

“I… I can’t.”

He said. Changkyun frowned.

“Why not?”

He asked, and Kihyun barely noticed he’d omitted the honorific. He was too focused on blocking the sounds from the movie and keeping himself in his adult headspace.

“I just… not tonight. It’s not fair.”

Changkyun shook his head.

“How is it not fair?”

He asked. Kihyun sighed.

“It’s… it’s supposed to be our night. As a couple. Not with you babysitting me.”

Changkyun gently held Kihyun’s face, making the older look at him.

“Ki. You should know by now that I’m always happy when I’m with you. Be it little you or adult you. Whether we’re watching a movie or practicing songs. I just love being with you. No matter what.”

He said. Kihyun looked at his eyes, and seeing the sincerity in them he sighed. Minhyuk was right there, on the first room down the corridor. He couldn’t…

“We have practice tomorrow.”

He said, but his resistance was wavering. A lot.

“We do. You probably won’t be little when we wake up. And if you are, we’ll help you come back. We’ve done it before.”

“But I…”

He tried to insist once again, but then made the mistake of looking to his side to avoid Changkyun’s persuasive eyes. And ended up staring at the movie playing. Now, he knew it was easy for him to go into little space. But it was almost surreal how fast he got entranced by the movie playing, all thoughts of Minhyuk and practice forgotten.

 

Changkyun smiled. He had been wondering when Kihyun would go into little space again, since he hadn’t been around on the previous time. He looked at the boy by his side, who was watching the movie intently, and smiled. ‘Now it’s my turn with the baby.’ He thought, happily. And he even had Kihyun all to himself, he wouldn’t have to share with the others, wouldn’t have to take turns to play with the boy. He snuggled closer to the little, who contentedly rested against him, smiling, too.

Once the movie ended, Changkyun expected Kihyun to be asleep, or at least sleepy. Which wasn’t the case. The boy was looking around, clearly looking for something to do. Changkyun started to think, too, wanting to choose something that wouldn’t make too much noise or mess.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Do you want me to teach you how to make paper boats?”

The smile on Kihyun’s face made Changkyun want to hug the boy and never let go.

A few minutes later they were sprawled on the floor, surrounded by pieces of paper. Changkyun had cut the paper into different sized pieces, so that Kihyun could make different sized boats. The younger laughed as Kihyun concentrated hard on folding the paper just right, as Changkyun had instructed. Of course, it turned out far from perfect, but the look of pride on the little’s face didn’t allow Changkyun to say anything about it.  
“You’re doing great, Kihyunnie! Now fold it like this.”

He taught, folding his piece of paper to show how it was done. Kihyun did as he was told, and Changkyun watched on, knowing full well that he was probably smiling like a fool. And when Kihyun finally finished his boat, almost ten minutes later, he squealed in delight and clapped.

“Daddy, look! Kihyunnie made boat!”

Changkyun froze. Kihyun was happily playing with his newly made boat, completely unaware of the fact that he’d almost killed the younger from a heart attack. Because Kihyun had just called him daddy. He was used to hearing the boy call Hoseok appa, and he had to admit he was a bit jealous. He couldn’t deny he wanted to be the one who Kihyun chose to call appa. But he’d come to terms with the fact that Hoseok had met little Kihyun first and gotten the name first, and that he would forever be Kyunnie. Apparently not.

“It’s… It’s beautiful, Kihyunnie. Want to make another one?”

Asked the maknae, trying to keep his excitement under wrap. Kihyun nodded, carefully putting his boat down and grabbing a new piece of paper.

For the next twenty minutes they made paper boats – Kihyun a bit slower than Changkyun –, until there were enough to form a small fleet. Changkyun would have admired their work, if he wasn’t trying so hard to think of a way to get Kihyun to call him daddy again.

He was so deep in thought he almost didn’t notice the boy looking at him expectantly. But he did, and he shook his head, focusing on the present. Unfortunately, Kihyun was faster.

“Daddy, we put them in water?”

He asked, giving Changkyun the puppy eyes. ‘Ah, damnit’ thought the maknae. He had no chance of denying it.

 

Changkyun knew he would have to clean the kitchen before going to sleep, no matter how tired he was, and he knew that he should have said no to this idea. But he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Him and Kihyun had filled the sink with water, before putting two boats – Kihyun had chosen them – inside it and starting to play pretend. Kihyun had giggled and splashed, and made a mess, but in the end, all that mattered was how happy the boy was. So, yeah, Changkyun definitely didn’t regret going along with the idea.

Right now, though, as he finished drying the floor while a sleepy Kihyun played with a tiny paper boat on the table, he wished he’d been smarter and used the tub. Or filled the sink a bit less. Nonetheless, as he finished and Kihyun made grabby hands at him, Changkyun knew he would do it all over again.

“Ok, baby boy. I think it’s time we go to bed, no?”

He asked, picking the boy up. Kihyun rested his head on the younger’s shoulder, his thumb finding it’s way into his mouth. Changkyun chuckled. It had taken long than he expected for Kihyun to start sucking on his thumb.

“Kiyunnie sleep with daddy?”

The boy asked. ‘He must really be sleepy’, Changkyun thought, when Kihyun didn’t complain about going to bed.

“Sure, baby, you can sleep in daddy’s bed.”

He answered. Kihyun hummed happily.

Changkyun took Kihyun to Hoseok’s and Hyunwoo’s room, where the boy’s stuff stayed. Thankfully, the two eldest were asleep. He quickly chose one of the little’s pyjamas and grabbed one of his pacifiers, before heading out. He dressed the boy in the bathroom, helping his brush his teeth afterwards, then took him by the hand to their room.

At the door, he bit his lip, wondering if Minhyuk was asleep. If he wasn't, it would be awkward and uncomfortable, and Changkyun didn’t want Kihyun to be exposed to that, even if he was in little space and half asleep and wouldn’t care much about that at the moment. On the other hand… well, there was nothing he could do. They had to sleep, and Kihyun’s eyes were already closing.

With a sigh, the maknae opened the door. And he immediately smiled in relief, as he noticed all of the others were asleep. He guided the little inside, helping him get on the bed. He then tried to lay next to the boy, but Kihyun whined.

“Daddy, no! Fwopsy!”

He whined. His words were so slurred that it took Changkyun a full minute to understand the request, but when he did he chuckled. Kihyun truly loved his stuffed bunny. Even when he wasn’t in little space he slept with it, and Changkyun often caught him cuddling the toy while in his adult headspace. It was adorable.

“Sorry, baby, Daddy forgot.” He apologized, picking the bunny up from the older’s bed and handing it to the little, who immediately squeezed the toy. “Now let’s sleep. We have a full day tomorrow.”

He said, lying next to Kihyun and pressing a kiss to the shield of the boy’s pacifier.

“Nighty night, Daddy.”

Mumbled the little, promptly falling asleep. Changkyun smiled.

“Goodnight, baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS! OUR BOYS FINALLY GOT THEIR 1ST WIN! I'M SO FREAKING HAPPY ADSJKNCADKMVC


	11. Minhyuk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any requests or suggestions can be left in the comments ^.^

If they had been paying attention, they would have noticed that Kihyun almost never went into little space when Minhyuk was around. They would have noticed that, when Kihyun said that he didn’t want to be little that day, he was lying. They would have known that he was refusing because Minhyuk had said he’d stay at the dorm during their day of break. And they definitely wouldn’t have all left to entertain themselves leaving Kihyun alone with Minhyuk. However, they weren’t paying attention. Not enough.

 

Things had been weird between Minhyuk and Kihyun since the whole little incident. It had gotten better after the others had convinced Kihyun to go into little space again; Kihyun had apologized for blowing up at Minhyuk during practice and the older had apologized for being an ass. But there was a tension between that hadn’t existed before, and it was obvious to everyone.

The others tried to act normal. They had mostly forgiven Minhyuk for the way he’d rejected Kihyun, agreeing that there was no reason to fight when the boy had already apologized. Still, there was a little bit of resentment left in everyone, specially since Minhyuk still refused to acknowledge Kihyun’s little side.

That day they had a break. Hoseok had asked Kihyun if he was feeling little and if he wanted to do something. The truth? Yes, Kihyun was feeling little. Yes, he wanted one of his caregivers to stay with him. But that’s not what he told Hoseok.

"I’m fine, hyung. You can go see your mom, I’ll enjoy this dorm being silent for a while."

Hoseok hadn’t been completely convinced; he could tell something was off. But he had chosen to trust Kihyun, giving him one last hug and leaving with instructions to call if he needed anything.

"Anything at all, Kihyunnie."

He said. Kihyun nodded.

He had lied to Changkyun too.

"Are you sure you don’t want to come? Or for me to stay, or..."

Kihyun had huffed.

"Babe, just go. I’ll be fine. I swear, you guys are like my parents sometimes."

Changkyun had raised an eyebrow at that. Kihyun had blushed and shoved the younger away, groaning. The maknae laughed.

"It’s because we love you, hyung."

Kihyun rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, but he knew he was still blushing.

"Well, then take your love out for the day."

He had chose to say. Changkyun had smiled and kissed him and Kihyun had melted against the younger, sighing into the kiss. Changkyun broke their kiss and looked at the older one last time

"You sure you don’t want..."

Kihyun groaned.

"Just go!"

He said, but as he watched Changkyun leaving, he couldn’t help but to wonder if he’d made a good choice.

He hadn’t had to lie to Hyunwoo and Jooheon. They hadn’t offered company, because they thought that Kihyun would ask if he did want. They didn’t see that well past Kihyun, like Changkyun, Hoseok and Hyungwon did. They usually believed what Kihyun said when the others could see that he clearly didn’t mean it. And they had believed when Kihyun said he would ask if he needed anything.

Hyungwon would have been a problem. He was good at reading Kihyun and he wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. He would know that something was wrong, like Hoseok had known, but he unlike the older, he wouldn’t have let it be. Instead, he’d have insisted until Kihyun told him the problem, out of sheer frustration. But. Hyungwon wasn’t home. He’d gone to his mother’s house the night before, knowing that they would have a break and wanting to spend as much time with his family as possible.

And that’s how Kihyun ended up alone with Minhyuk in the dorms. For the first time since the incident.

 

To say that things were awkward was an understatement. As Hyunwoo left, instructing both boys to ‘behave’ and call if they needed anything, Kihyun and Minhyuk stood by the door, watching the older go. As soon as the boy was out of sight, though, they turned to enter the dorm, shuffling awkwardly as they bumped into each other in an attempt to re-enter the room.

Once inside, they looked at each other, before looking away. Kihyun bit on his bottom lip, regretting his decision of sending the others away more than ever.

“I, uhn… do you… want to watch a movie?”

Asked Minhyuk, after a few seconds of silence. Kihyun had been ready to dash for his room, and was caught by surprise by the question. He looked up, blinking confused.

“I… sure?”

Minhyuk attempted a smile at the answer, but it looked strained. Kihyun didn’t smile back.

They settled on the couch without saying anything else and Minhyuk turned on the TV, searching for something for them to watch. Kihyun watched him, silently, and he notice, for the first time, that he was angry with Minhyuk.

He hadn’t noticed it before. Right after Minhyuk freaked out about Kihyun being a little, the younger had decided he’d quit being little once and for all. He had convinced himself that Minhyuk was right – which wasn’t that hard, since he already believed it before – and had been too focused on the task to pay attention to how he was feeling about the situation. He knew he was angry. He just hadn’t known at whom or what, exactly. Now he knew.

“What do you think about this?”

Kihyun startled, having completely forgotten what they were doing. He spared the TV a glance, noticing Minhyuk had chosen some historical drama for them to watch. He wasn’t that fond of historical dramas, but he didn’t want to argue. He shrugged and then nodded. Minhyuk nodded back and turned his attention to the TV.

Kihyun watched the boy watching the drama. He knew the others had been pissed at Minhyuk because of him. But he also knew they had forgiven him. He wanted to forgive him, too, but how could he, when he’d just discovered that he was angry at the older? He sighed and turned around to watch TV. He would work on that later.

 

Minhyuk could see Kihyun was paying zero attention to the drama they were supposed to be watching. The boy was frowning, obviously deep in thought, and he sometimes huffed or sighed. It was making Minhyuk uneasy, but he said nothing. He didn’t want to make things even worse between them.

He let the younger be, forcing himself to pay attention to the drama. It worked. He quickly became entertained by the drama, and when it ended, one hour and a half later, and My Neighbor Totoro came on, he let it play. He liked the movie, and he knew Kihyun loved anything from Studio Ghibli, so it would be fine. Or so he thought.

They were halfway through the movie when Minhyuk heard something by his side, that wasn’t the noise of Kihyun sighing, as it had been for the past two hours.

Minhyuk turned to his side, confused and then froze. Because Kihyun was sucking on his thumb. The boy was watching the movie quietly, clearly entertained, his thumb securely between as lips. Minhyuk cursed lowly, trying not to disturb the boy, and turned back around, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

He didn’t know what to do. Was Kihyun in little space? Should he try to talk to him? Would he talk to Minhyuk or be scared of him? Would he cry when he noticed his caregivers weren't around? There were too many questions and no answers, and Minhyuk was panicking.

He looked at Kihyun again. The boy was at ease, calmly watching the cartoon, completely unaware of the storm going on in Minhyuk’s mind.  
The older got up. Kihyun turned to look at him, tilting his head.

"I, uhn... water."

He managed to say, before rushing out of the room and into the kitchen. Once inside he breathed in deeply.

Fuck. How had this happened? Kihyun had been completely normal all morning, when had this happened? Why had... he cursed himself. Fuck, he should have known better than to watch a cartoon with Kihyun around. Especially when the boy was already so tense from being around him. How could he be so stupid? Now he was stuck with a little Kihyun that he had no idea how to deal with. That he didn't want to deal with.

 

Minhyuk was busy wondering if Hoseok would be too pissed if he called him to come back, when the door to the kitchen opened. The boy held his breath as Kihyun poked his head through the door.

"Minmin ok?"

Minhyuk froze. He stared at Kihyun. The boy was chewing on his bottom lip, looking at the older worryingly. There was a plushy on his hand, the pink rabbit that always stayed on Kihyun’s bed, and Minhyuk chastised himself for leaving the boy unsupervised while he freaked out, before he remembered that the boy in front of him was twenty-three years old, not some helpless little kid.

But the thing was... as much as Minhyuk didn’t want to accept it, Kihyun was kind of a helpless kid. At least at the moment. And he looked... he looked so small. The way he was clutching his rabbit and looking at Minhyuk was making the older’s heart clench.

"Hey. Hey, uhn, yeah. I’m fine. I’m fine. Do you... need anything?"

He asked, awkwardly. The boy nodded.

"Minmin pway?"

Asked the boy, seeming hopeful. Minhyuk grimaced. He didn’t mean to, but the idea was too weird and... and... oh god, Kihyun looked so dejected. No twenty-three year old should have the right to look that adorable while at the same time looking so sad.

"Ah, no, that’s not..."

"Kiyunnie pway quiet. Kiyunnie no bother Minmin."

Said the boy, before leaving the room. Minhyuk stared at the door, before sighing and rubbing his face.

"Ah, shit. I can't believe..."

 

Hoseok had to actually physically rub his eyes at the scene that greeted him as he entered the dorm's kitchen.

He had spent the morning with his mom, had lunch with her and he enjoyed himself. Of course he did, he loved spending time with his mom. But on that day, specifically, his heart just wasn't into it. He had asked Kihyun again and again if he was ok being alone, if he was feeling little, and the boy had reassured him that he’d be perfectly fine and had sent him away.

But Hoseok wasn't convinced. He had noticed the way Kihyun was looking at his stuffed bunny earlier in the morning, and the way his lisp was more apparent, in a way that it only was when he was feeling extremely tired or little. Still, Kihyun had told him to go more than once, and Hoseok could tell he really didn't want to go into little space.

So he had gone. He’d left Kihyun alone, knowing that the only other person to stay would be Minhyuk. And it was making him uneasy. So, as he finished eating with his mom, he hugged her tightly and said he needed to go back. He promised to visit her again as soon as he could, and then left, rushing back home. Which brought him to the situation he was in now.

The kitchen was a mess. The counter was littered with ramen packets and seasoning. The floor was wet with what Hoseok assumed was ramen water, as there was a pot upturned nearby and a lot of ramen everywhere. And in the middle of this mess, there were Kihyun and Minhyuk.

Kihyun had clearly been crying, the tear treks in his cheeks being the evidence. At the moment, he was just sniffing, as Minhyuk put ice to his arm and talked to him, both completely unaware of Hoseok’s presence.

"...And I’ll get something else and then we can eat."

Was saying the older boy. There was something weird in his way of talking, but Hoseok didn’t know exactly what.

"Huwts"

Complained Kihyun, sniffing, confirming Hoseok’s suspicion that the boy was in little space.

Minhyuk was about to say something when Hoseok cleared his throat. Both boys jumped, startled, and Kihyun’s eyes widened.

"Appa!"

Squealed the boy, jumping up.

"Careful, Kihyunnie, the floor is wet."

Hoseok warned, but Kihyun was already running to him. Fortunately, the boy didn't fall. He hugged Hoseok and the older hugged back, chuckling. 

"Appa! Missed you."

Mumbled Kihyun. Hoseok tightened his hold.

"I missed you too, bug. Now, why don’t you sit on the table with Flopsy while I clean this mess?"

He suggested. Kihyun nodded, letting go and sitting down, quickly getting distracted with his stuffed rabbit. He seemed to have forgotten whatever had been bothering just a few seconds earlier.

Hoseok turned to Minhyuk. The boy was biting his lip and eyeing Hoseok guiltily.

"Ok, what happened?"

Asked the older. Minhyuk pouted. Hoseok wasn’t expecting that.

"I’m sorry! Kihyunnie was hungry and there wasn’t food, so I was trying to make some but when I was taking the pot it slipped and fell, and the water hit Kihyunnie and he burned his arm. I-I was trying to help, I’m sorry.”

The boy looked as if he was on the verge of tears. Hoseok could only stare at him, trying to understand what was going on. As Minhyuk started to tear up, though, he quickly spoke up.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not angry, it was an accident, right?”

He said, trying to reassure the boy. Minhyuk sniffed and nodded, clearly trying not to cry.

“I’m sorry.”

He said once again. Hoseok shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it.” He turned to Kihyun. “Kihyunnie, can I see your arm, baby?”

He asked, softly, not caring that Minhyuk was there. Clearly something had changed while he was away, because Minhyuk seemed 100% around little Kihyun.

Kihyun held his bunny with his other hand and stretched the burned arm to Hoseok, pouting. The older took a look at it and sighed in relief. It wasn’t to bad, and the fact that Minhyuk had been putting ice on it had helped a lot.

“Kiyunnie huwt.”

Whined the little. Hoseok smiled.

“Just a little bit, baby. It’ll heal in no time, ok?”

Kihyun nodded, smiling a little before turning to play with his bunny. Hoseok turned back to Minhyuk. The boy was looking at his feet, still seeming extremely sad. Hoseok sighed.

“Take Kihyun to the living room, I’ll clean this up.”

He said. The boy immediately nodded, walking to Kihyun and taking the boy by the hand and pulling him to the living room, with no resistance whatsoever from the little.

 

Once Hoseok was done, he headed out to the living room, only to be greeted with another scene he wasn’t expecting. Kihyun and Minhyuk were playing together, each one with one of the toy cars Hyunwoo had gotten Kihyun recently. Hoseok had a feeling he was missing something important, but he couldn’t quite understand what it was. He shook his head and made his way to the two boys.

“Hey, I made some food.” He said, placing the sandwiches he’d made on the table. The two immediately perked up, forgetting the toy cars as they rushed to the table. Hoseok couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Well, someone is eager.”

He said. The two boys ignored him completely, in favour of eating the sandwiches. The older watched them, trying to put things in order in his mind.

When he’d left, in the morning, Kihyun and Minhyuk hadn’t been talking. Kihyun was embarrassed to be in little space in front of the older, and Minhyuk refused to be around when the other was feeling little. And now the two of them were acting like they were the best of friends, and it was making Hoseok extremely confused. He decided he’d ask Minhyuk about it, as soon as the boy finished eating.

Of course, his plan went down the drain less than five minutes later. But it made no difference, because he finally understood what was going on.

He had been playing a game on his phone, waiting for the boys to finish eating, when a Kihyun whining grabbed his attention. He looked up from his phone and frowned at the situation. Kihyun and Minhyuk were holding the same sandwich, glaring at each other. It was the last sandwich on the plate.

“I grabbed it first, Kihyunnie!” Argued Minhyuk.

“But Kiyunnie hungwy!” Complained the little. Minhyuk’s frown deepened.

“I’m hungry too!” He yelled, and then pushed Kihyun. The little fell backwards, startled, and let go of the sandwich. Minhyuk smiled victoriously for a second, until he noticed Kihyun’s lower lip wobbling. His eyes widened and he looked at Hoseok guiltily. But Hoseok didn’t have the time to say anything before Kihyun started crying his heart out.

The older quickly kneeled down, pulling the little closer.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, it’s ok, shh. We’ll get you another sandwich, don’t worry. And this sandwich will be the best sandwich you’ve ever eaten, I promise. You can even help me make it!”

He continued to talk to the boy, until Kihyun’s cries died down and he was only sniffing. Hoseok finally turned to look at Minhyuk. The boy was once again looking down guiltily. But now Hoseok understood what was going on. Even if the idea was completely bizarre.

“Minhyukie. Can you apologize to Kihyunnie?”

He asked, softly. Minhyuk nodded eagerly, before turning to the younger boy.

“I’m sorry, Kihyunnie. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

He said, softly. Kihyun looked from the boy to Hoseok, who nodded. Then he nodded at Minhyuk.

“Kiyunnie forgive Minmin.”

He said. Minhyuk squealed and hugged the little, making him giggle. Hoseok watched on, amused.

“Ok, you two. Now, what do you say you help me make sandwiches?”

 

Hoseok had never cooked with little Kihyun. It was on his to do list, but he still hadn’t gotten around to doing it. So he didn’t know how messy it would get. He should have known, though, that even the simplest of recipes would end up a mess. Especially with two littles.

He had instructed Minhyuk to butter the pieces of bread and Kihyun to cut the cheese – with his hands, of course – into strips, while he washed the tomatoes. They weren’t difficult tasks, and the two had been incredibly happy at the idea of doing it on their own. So Hoseok calmly picked up a tomato and washed it, before going back to the two boys to check on their progress, only to be greeted with a war zone.

Minhyuk had managed to get more butter on his hands and cheeks than on the bread, and there was a trail of butter where, Hoseok suspected, the wooden spatula he was using had fallen on the ground. There was also butter on Kihyun, and Hoseok had no idea how that had gotten there. The older of the two was still carefully buttering the last slice of bread.

Kihyun, on the other hand, was… well, annihilating the cheese. He was putting all of his attention on tearing the cheese into the smallest pieces possible. Hoseok grimaced at the now destroyed cheese. He was glad he wasn’t the one who would be eating it. He sighed. He should have expected that. He put his tomato down, starting to cut it.

Once the slices were cut, Hoseok headed back to where the boys were. Now there was also cheese on Minhyuk’s hair, but Hoseok had already expected something like that.

“Are you boys done?”

He asked, voice cheery. The two boys nodded at him with big smiles on their faces.

“Look, hyung! I covered all the bread!”

Minhyuk shoved an overly buttered piece of bread on Hoseok’s face, making the older chuckle.

“Yes, I can see that. Very good, Min.” He said, laughing. Minhyuk smiled proudly, putting his bread down. “What about you, baby?”

Kihyun proudly presented his… cheese? Hoseok wasn’t sure anymore.

“Kiyunnie cut it all!”

He said, giggling. Hoseok chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“You sure did. Good job, baby. Now we just have to make them.”

Hoseok instructed Kihyun to hold a slice of bread while Minhyuk put the cheese on top of it. He then gave the two boys the tomato slices he’d cut and let them put as many as they wanted, laughing as Kihyun put almost all of the tomato on his and Minhyuk grimaced at the single piece he’d put on his.

Once the boys were happy with their sandwiches, Hoseok helped them move the food to the table, cutting up Kihyun’s so the little could eat more easily. Minhyuk seemed to be older, so Hoseok let him be.

He watched the two boys eating and playing together and smiled. Later, they would have to have a talk, once Minhyuk was back on his adult headspace. But for now, he would just enjoy spending time with the two boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A question for scientific purpose: can you guys tell who my Monsta X bias is just from reading this fic?? I'm curious about something.


	12. Not a chapter, a poll

So, I have a few chapters in mind, and I wanted to know which one you guys would like to see first!!!

1\. Little(r) - Kihyun is too stressed and ends up regressing more than usual  
2\. Time Out - Kihyun misbehaves and throws a tantrum and the others have to give him a time-out  
3\. Fansign - Kihyun slips into little space during a fansign  
4\. Sick - Kihyun is sick and ends up falling into little space. The others have to take care of a sick little Kihyun  
5\. Baking - Little Kihyun and Little Minhyuk baking with the others  
6\. Shots - Kihyun has to take shots and ends up falling into little space  
7\. Nightmare - Kihyun has a nightmare and falls into little space when he wakes up  
8\. We Need To Talk - Minhyuk comes back to his adult headspace and they all have a talk  
9\. Bath Time - Just bath time with little Kihyun and little Minhyuk

10\. Shopping - The others convince Kihyun to shop for things for his little self

All of these will be fulfilled, eventually, just wanted to know which one you'd like to read first, so let me know ^.^


	13. Bathtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guys, as most of you suggested this, it'll be bath time first, then the talk. After that, the one with more votes was Little(r), so it'll be the one after the talk!  
> Hope you guys like it?

The two littles were a mess. There was no other way to describe it. If they had been dirty before eating, now it was a whole new level. Minhyuk clearly wasn’t too fond of the tomato he’d placed in his sandwich and kept trying to give it to Kihyun by putting it directly into the boy’s mouth. And Kihyun, although he had already stuffed his own sandwich with more tomato than the bread could hold, eagerly accepted the treat, opening his mouth to allow the older to feed him.

Of course, though, Minhyuk couldn't place the whole thing on the boy’s mouth at once. He still tried. The result, of course, was Kihyun with cheese, butter and tomato all over his face, and Minhyuk, being the caring kid he was, trying to clean the younger up. With his hands. In the end, Hoseok resigned himself to the fact that there was no escape and he would have to bathe the two boys.

Once the two finished their sandwich, Hoseok proceeded to take their plates to the kitchen. He left them in the sink, unwashed, knowing that leaving the two littles alone for more than a few seconds would definitely be a mistake.

He returned to the living room and took in the situation. Minhyuk was still trying to clean Kihyun’s cheeks with his hands, wiping it all in his shirt. It wasn’t doing much, except for dirtying Minhyuk’s clothes. Hoseok massaged his temple.

“Ok, guys, I think me might need to wash you two. C’mon, it’s bath time.”

Kihyun immediately perked up, giggling and clapping. Minhyuk, apparently, wasn’t so easy to please.

“No~.” He whined, crossing his arms. “Hyung, I don’t want to shower.”

The pout on his face was adorable, and had it been Kihyun, Hoseok was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to resist. But as cute as Minhyuk’s puppy eyes were, they didn’t have as strong an effect on Hoseok and Kihyun’s had.

“It’s not a shower, Minhyukie, it’s a bath. We can even put in some bubbles and toys!”

He smiled excitedly, trying to convince the little. It didn’t seem to work much. Hoseok sighed.

“Minmin, bath time is fun!” Said Kihyun, before Hoseok could say anything else. “We pway with bubbles and toys!”

He looked so excited, Hoseok doubted anyone would have been able to resist. Much less a little Minhyuk. And indeed, the older little looked at Hoseok, seeming to contemplate the option. He then nodded to himself and got up.

“I want a bath.”

He declared, very seriously. Hoseok held in his laughter. He knew better than to hurt a child’s pride, and at the moment, Minhyuk was very much a child. So he simply nodded and picked Kihyun up.

“Well, then you can lead the path to the bathroom.”

He said. Minhyuk smiled and skipped to the bathroom, making sure to tell the others to follow him. Kihyun giggled excitedly on Hoseok’s lap, and the older laughed. They might be a handful, but Hoseok wouldn’t change it for the world.

 

While the bathtub filled, Hoseok took the two boys to his room. Once there he picked an outfit for Kihyun and allowed the boys to choose a toy each. Minhyuk chose one of Kihyun’s toy cars and the younger chose a stuffed animal. Usually, Hoseok wouldn’t have allowed that, but the younger looked so excited that he couldn’t say no. They could always put the toy up to dry later.

They then headed to the other boys’ room, and Hoseok looked through Minhyuk’s things, easily finding his onesie from the Safari in Monbebe video. He smiled. The two boys would look too adorable. He led the littles to the bathroom, smiling as he noticed the tub was already full enough. He sat down on the edge, bringing Kihyun closer and helping the boy undress.

“Ok, boys, time to get in. Minhyukie, do you need help with your clothes?”

The older little shook his head, beginning to undress too as Hoseok helped Kihyun get on the bathtub. Hoseok watched the boy struggle, wanting nothing more than to help him, but managed not to. He could tell little Minhyuk liked his independence, and he wasn’t about to go against that.

His restraint proved to be worth, when Minhyuk finally got out of his shirt and smiled proudly, handing it for the older to fold.

“See? I can do it!”

Kihyun clapped and Hoseok laughed at how proud Minhyuk sounded, before ruffling his hair.

“Very good, Minhyukie. Now in the bath, so we can make some bubbles.”

Hoseok had never seen Minhyuk move so fast.

 

Looking back, Hoseok should have thought this through. Once the littles were in the tub, he’d put the liquid soap in the water. Should he have used something else to make bubbles? Probably, but they didn’t have anything, so this would do. He then instructed the two littles on how to make the bubbles appear. He should have known the two boys would be too excited to pay attention to how hard they were hitting the water. He should have known him and the bathroom would end up as soaked as the littles.

But he didn’t think about that, and now, as Kihyun and Minhyuk laughed and hit the water, squealing at the bubbles, he wondered if the others would be kind enough to help him clean afterwards.

“Ok, ok, I think it’s enough!” Upon hearing the request, Kihyun pouted at him, but immediately stopped. Minhyuk… didn’t. “Minhyukie, we have enough bubbles, love. Look, don’t you want to play with the toy you brought?”

This got the boy’s attention. He stopped splashing and turned towards Hoseok, extending his hand. The older snorted and picked up the toy car, handing it to the boy, before handing Kihyun his stuffed toy. He closed his eyes as the youngest hugged the plushy and shoved it underwater, soaking it completely. He’d deal with that later.

“Appa!” Called the boy, giggling. “Appa, look, she has beawd!”

He said, holding out the toy, which now had, indeed, a bubbled beard. The older laughed and nodded, but before he could say anything, Minhyuk did.

“Look, Kihyunnie! Minmin has a beard too!”

Hoseok tried to contain his laughter, but the sight of Minhyuk with a bubble beard was too funny for him to keep quiet. Kihyun seemed delighted.

“Kiyunnie have beawd too?” He asked, excitedly. Minhyuk nodded, reaching forward and placing bubbles on the boy’s face, making Kihyun squeal. “Appa, Kiyunnie has beawd too!”  
Hoseok couldn’t help but to pick up his phone to snap a photo.

“Waa you guys look so cool!”

He said, making both boys beam up at him. It was a precious sight.

 

Having little Minhyuk around was… different. It had it’s good points, like the fact that Hoseok could browse his phone while the two boys played in the bath, only checking on them some times and looking at one thing or another when requested. It was a lot less tiring than spending the whole bath sitting by the tub, entertaining a little Kihyun.

On the other hand… Hoseok liked taking care of little Kihyun and having his undivided attention. He liked playing with the boy and seeing the way his face lit up with excitement when Hoseok did simple things like making soap bubbles and things like that.

He watched the two boys. Minhyuk was making bubbles on the water with his mouth and Kihyun was watching as if it was the most fantastic thing ever. The older than made for Kihyun to try. The younger little frowned, concentrating hard on the task, and out half of his face on the water. Hoseok almost laughed as Kihyun sat back up, grimacing.

“Minmin! It taste like soap! Yucky!”

Minhyuk laughed and patted the boy’s head.

“It’s ok, Kihyunnie, you’re just too little to do it. Don’t worry, I’ll do it for you.”

Hoseok smiled. Little Minhyuk was too cute taking care of little Kihyun. Still, he could see their fingers were starting to look like raisins, so maybe it was time to end this bath time, as cute as it was to watch the boys.

“Ok, guys, I think we need to actually shower now.”

He said, starting to drain the tub. Both boys pouted.

“But hyung~”

Whined Minhyuk.

“But appa~”

Hoseok chuckled at the proud look on Minhyuk’s face as Kihyun copied him.

“You can’t be in there all day, boys, otherwise you’ll become raisins. Look at your hands, it’s already happening!”

Both boys looked down, alarmed, and Hoseok laughed to himself once again.

“Appa! Kiyunnie don’t want to be waisin!”

Hoseok petted Kihyun’s hair, reassuring the scared boy.

“You won’t, baby, appa won’t let that happen. You just have to take a shower, and then you’ll be ok. Can you do that?”

Kihyun nodded eagerly, turning around so that Hoseok could wash his hair. Minhyuk bit his bottom lip.

“Hyung, can I help wash Kihyunnie’s hair?”

Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

“Sure, but you have to be careful, ok?” Minhyuk nodded eagerly. Hoseok put the shampoo bottle down. “Kihyunnie, can you turn to look at appa?”

Kihyun did as he was told, moving so that he faced Hoseok. The older smiled and retrieved the boy’s plushy from the now empty tub, giving it to the little. He then squeezed shampoo in Minhyuk’s hand and nodded to let him know he was good to go.

The sight of Minhyuk carefully washing Kihyun’s hair while the younger played with his stuffed toy was almost too much for Hoseok. He barely managed to keep himself from squealing, biting his bottom lip to keep himself quiet. Once the older little was done, he insisted on helping Hoseok rinse the boy’s hair, carefully covering Kihyun’s eyes as Hoseok poured water to wash out the shampoo. Once they were done, Minhyuk looked at Hoseok, expectantly.

“That was very good, Minhyukie, thank you for helping me!” Minhyuk beamed at him. “Do you need help taking a shower?”

He asked. Minhyuk shook his head, but extended his hand waiting for Hoseok to put shampoo in it. The older laughed and helped him, letting him do his thing as he finished washing Kihyun. When he reached for the boy to help him stand up, he noticed the little was already half asleep, his thumb already in his mouth. he smiled fondly, before doing his best to shower the boy without disturbing him too much.

 

Hoseok helped Minhyuk out of the tub and dried him a bit, before letting the boy do the rest himself. He then carefully picked Kihyun up, wrapping him up on his towel. He waited for Minhyuk to be done drying himself. He had planned to dress the boys in the bathroom, but with the wet floor and Kihyun half asleep, he decided it wasn’t the best option.

“Minhyukie, can you carry these clothes for me?”

Minhyuk, who had just finished drying himself, nodded, clearly happy at being entrusted such a task. He carefully picked the clothes up, following Hoseok to the older’s room. Once inside, Hoseok laid Kihyun down. The boy whined.

“Appa~”

Hoseok shushed him, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“I’m right here, baby.”

Kihyun sighed contentedly, eyes still closed.

“Hyung, do you need help with Kihyunnie?”

Asked Minhyuk, once Kihyun had calmed down. Hoseok smiled fondly.

“Sure, bug, can you give me the blue clothes?”

Minhyuk quickly took the clothes from the pile, handing it to the older.

“Thank you, Minhyukie.” He took the shirt and easily put it on Kihyun, letting Minhyuk pull the shirt down. “I think I’ve got this, now. Can you dress yourself?”

He asked. The older little nodded, taking his own onesie and starting to dress himself.

Hoseok finished dressing Kihyun, carefully putting him under the covers, before turning to Minhyuk. The boy was watching him carefully, as if trying to make sure Kihyun was ok. Hoseok almost laughed at the thought.

“Hyung, can we watch cartoons?”

He asked, once he noticed Hoseok was looking at him. Hoseok nodded.

“Sure, bug.”

He said, but as he tried to move away from the bed, Kihyun whined and held his wrist.

“Appa, no.”

Whined the boy. Hoseok bit his lip. What was he supposed to do now? He looked at Minhyuk, who was anxiously watching the younger little. Hoseok sighed in relief, knowing Minhyuk wouldn't throw a tantrum if Hoseok gave Kihyun more attention.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, I’ll just go get Flopsy and your paci, ok? I’ll be right back.”

Kihyun opened his eyes slightly to look at the older, then nodded, although he seemed a bit apprehensive. Hoseok smiled, before gesturing for Minhyuk to follow him outside. He took the little to the living room, turning on the TV for him.

“Hey, Minhyukie, I’ll be right back, ok? I just need to get Kihyunnie to sleep. Can you be good while I do that?”

Minhyuk nodded, turning his attention to the TV. Hoseok ruffled his hair and headed back to his room, picking Kihyun’s bunny up on the way. When he entered the room, Kihyun was sitting up, sucking on his thumb. He sniffed when he saw Hoseok entering.

“Appa no go away.”

He whined, making grabby hands towards the older.

“Oh, Kihyunnie, appa is sorry. Appa didn’t go away. Appa just went to find Flopsy.”

He said, sitting next to the boy and handing him the toy. Kihyun grabbed it, then climbed on the older’s lap. Hoseok chuckled and hugged him close, putting the pacifier on the boy’s mouth.

“It’s ok, baby, I’m right here.”

 

After Kihyun fell asleep, Hoseok carefully put him down on the bed, covering him. He headed out of the room, trying to be silent, and headed to the living room to see if Minhyuk was ok. But when he arrived at the living room there was some action movie playing, instead of the cartoon that had been playing when he left.

Hoseok frowned, walking up to the sofa. He spotted Minhyuk still sitting on the floor, looking at the TV.

“Minhyukie?”

Minhyuk looked up, startled, before blushing and burying his face on his hands. And then it downed on Hoseok. He sighed. He had hoped Minhyuk would take longer to come out of headspace, that he would have more time to organize his thoughts before they needed to talk. Apparently, he wasn’t so lucky.


	14. We Need To Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, I'll be very honest and say I didn't re-read this. I wrote it, and I'm posting without reading it again, so I'm sorry if there are too many mistakes :(  
> Hope you guys enjoy ^.^

Hoseok sat down next to Minhyuk, trying to come up with a way to start this conversation. Before he could, however, Minhyuk started crying.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry”

The boy continued to chant, still not looking at Hoseok. The older was at a loss as to what to do, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. Which was to pull Minhyuk into a hug and let the boy cry against his chest, much like Kihyun had done when he told Hoseok he was scared about going into little space.

“Minhyuk, hey, it’s alright. It’s ok, c’mon. Stop crying, you’ll make yourself sick.”

The older continued to encourage the boy to calm down, rubbing his back softly, until Minhyuk’s sobs died down and he pulled away from Hoseok. He sighed and looked at the older, before looking down again.

“I’m so sorry, hyung.”

Hoseok frowned.

“What are you sorry for?”

Minhyuk sniffed.

“I was an arsehole to Kihyun when I found out about this whole thing, and I refused to accept it. I made him feel bad, put all of us through hell because of it, and now… and now I do this. You have the right to hate me.”

Hoseok shook his head, incredulous.

“Min. C’mon, do you really think I’d hate you for being little? I mean, you were an arsehole, and I really was angry with you. But it’s in the past now, and Kihyun is getting better. There’s no reason for me, for us, to hate you. If anything, you being little makes me wonder if that’s what was behind all that hate towards Kihyun being little. Was it?”

At that Minhyuk blushed.

“I… I don’t know. I’d never… today I just… I didn’t know about this. But then today Ki went into little space and asked me to play, and I… that pout of his has a lot of power, ok? And I was playing with him and I just… I didn’t even know, hyung.”

The boy sounded so confused that Hoseok felt the urge to hug him again, as if that would give them all the answers they needed. Minhyuk gave another shaky sigh and Hoseok noticed his eyes filling with tears once again.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t cry. It’s ok. You don’t have to know everything. You don’t need to be sure. We can help you through this, and you can explore it at your pace. You don’t need to just have it all figured out in a second. And you even have Ki. He’s been through this, I’m sure he’ll help you as much as he can.”

Minhyuk took a deep breath, nodding at the older’s words. They were silent for a while. Then Minhyuk chuckled sadly.

“Fuck. Ki had to go through this alone. I have him, and I know you guys won’t judge me for being like this. But… he didn’t have anything. Oh god, it must have sucked so much. And then I… shit, I feel so bad, hyung.”

The boy rested his head on Hoseok’s chest and the older ran a hand through it.

“You can apologize once he’s out of headspace. Sincerely this time. I’m sure he’ll forgive you. Besides, you were an awesome big brother.” Minhyuk glared at the older, before smiling slightly. Hoseok laughed. “You two were a handful. But you were also adorable, so it’s ok.”

Minhyuk laughed.

“Sorry, hyung. I’ll try to behave more, ok?”

They both laughed.

 

They were watching TV when a sleepy Kihyun entered the room, dragging his stuffed bunny with him. The boy made his way straight to Hoseok, before sitting on the older’s lap and curling up there, a hand holding the older’s shirt. Minhyuk watched in awe.

He’d spent about five minutes with little Kihyun before falling into little space as well, so this was the first time he actually got to see the boy in this headspace. It was adorable. He regretted ever thinking anything bad about it.

“He’s… he’s so cute.”

Hoseok turned to his side, snorting when he noticed the look on Minhyuk’s face.

“He is. He’s our adorable little pumpkin.”

Said the older, tickling the little as he said that. Kihyun squealed and giggled, burying his face on Hoseok’s tummy.

“Appa! Stop!”

Hoseok laughed at the little’s delighted giggles.

“Sorry, baby, you’re just so cute that I can’t help myself.”

He said, once again tickling the boy. Kihyun continued to giggle, before rolling out of Hoseok’s grasp and crawling to hide by Minhyuk’s side, his pacifier forgotten on the floor. The boy’s eyes widened as Kihyun gripped his arm, still laughing as he eyed his caregiver, watching for any sudden attacks.

“Minmin! Pwotect Kiyunnie!”

Minhyuk turned his scared gaze to Hoseok, who laughed.

“Hyung, it’s not funny! What do I do?”

He whispered, making Hoseok laugh more.

“Just let him sit on your lap, Min.”

Minhyuk gulped and turned to Kihyun, who was looking at him expectantly.

“I, uhn, you…”

Kihyun didn’t wait for him to finish before climbing on the boy’s lap and settling there. Minhyuk froze, trying to get used to the situation. Kihyun was surprisingly light, and the way he was nuzzling up against Minhyuk made the older’s heart melt. He carefully lowered his arms, hugging Kihyun softly, as if the boy could break.

Hoseok watched, amused. He had thought he’d never see Minhyuk and little Kihyun together, and now he was seeing it, and it was absolutely adorable. He quickly snapped a picture, laughing when Minhyuk glared at him.

“Relax, it’s just…”

The door to the dorm opened, and in came Hyungwon, Jooheon and Changkyun, interrupting Hoseok. The boy bit his lip, looking at Minhyuk, who was apprehensively watching the others, probably not even noticing the way he’d tightened his hold on Kihyun.

Jooheon was the first one to notice the unexpected scene. He stopped on his track, taking in Kihyun’s dinosaur themed clothes and the way the boy was playing with his stuffed toy while sitting on Minhyuk’s lap. He looked at Hoseok, clearly confused. Before Hoseok could reply though, Hyungwon joined the rapper, quickly catching up.

“What the…?”

He was interrupted by Changkyun, who bumped into them.

“Hyungs? What are you doing standi…”

Hoseok could feel the tension going up as soon as Changkyun’s eyes met Minhyuk’s. Oh, this wouldn’t end well.

“Changkyunnie…”

Hoseok started, but at the name, Kihyun looked up, only then seeming to notice the other boys. His eyes lit up and he got up of Minhyuk’s lap, running towards the maknae.

“Daddy! You’we back! Kiyunnie missed daddy!”

Hoseok hoped the little would be enough to keep Changkyun calm, but things weren’t looking good.

“Hey, baby. Daddy missed you too.”

Said the maknae, smiling at the little, but his eyes were still burning.

“Kihyunnie, Changkyunnie told us he was really thirsty. Why don’t you help me get something for him?”

Hoseok could have kissed Hyungwon for that idea. The last thing he wanted was for Kihyun to be in the middle of whatever was about to happen.

The little nodded excitedly, hugging Changkyun one last time and taking Hyungwon’s hand, heading to the kitchen. Once they were gone, all eyes turned to Minhyuk.

“What the fuck is going on here?”

The anger was clear as day on the maknae’s voice. Minhyuk looked at Hoseok, looking for reassurance. The older nodded at him. He hoped this wouldn’t make things worse.

“I… I wanted to apologize. To all of you and to Kihyun. I’ll talk to him when he isn’t little anymore. I’m sorry. I was an ass. I hurt Kihyun and I made things hard for you guys. I’m really sorry, I’ll do what I can to make things better.”

Hoseok could see Jooheon had already completely forgiven the boy. It was obvious that Minhyuk was being honest, and no one really wanted to fight. But Changkyun was another story. He chuckled, but the sound was angry.

“Sorry? You’re sorry? Do you have any idea how bad you fucked up?” Minhyuk lowered his head. “Do you know how much what you said hurt Kihyun? Do you know how hard we had to work to build his trust back up? And now you say you’re sorry? Like this, all of a sudden? And you expect us to trust you? Yeah, fat chance.”

Minhyuk buried his face in his knees again, clearly trying to keep himself together.

“Chankyunnie…”

Changkyun’s glare made Hoseok stop before even saying anything.

“What? So you’re on his side now? DO you even know why he’s suddenly decided to accept this? Are you seriously telling me you’ve forgiven him?”

Hoseok breathed in deeply, trying to keep calm. It would do them no good to start fighting now.

“Changkyunnie, calm down. Why don’t you listen to…”

“I’m a little too.”

Hoseok stopped. Minhyuk had told him he didn’t want to tell the others yet. But now it was out there, and Jooheon and Changkyun were looking at him incredulously.

“You’re a little.” Repeated Changkyun. He then chuckled. “You… you don’t expect me to believe you, do you?”

Minhyuk was pale, and Changkyun’s words made him flinch, as if he was being physically hit.

“He’s telling the truth, Changkyun. I saw it.”

Changkyun turned to Hoseok, one eyebrow raised.

“Ok. Then he's a little. Perfect. Just perfect. So now you decided that you like Kihyun again. Isn’t that really nice of you?”

Minhyuk didn’t seem to be able to speak, simply shaking his head, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Changkyunnie, c’mon. Look, Minhyuk hyung apologized, and…”

Hoseok interrupted Jooheon before the rapper could finish.

“You don’t have to be an arsehole, Changkyun. Minhyuk fucked, ok, but he’s apologizing. He’s obviously sorry, and he even said he’d help fix things. Why must you keep this stupid fight going?”

Changkyun glared at the older. Hoseok’s gaze didn’t waver. He’d been angry with Minhyuk, too, but this was going too far.

“Are you even hearing yourself? He hurt Kihyun, and now he thinks he can’t just say sorry and make things right, and you’re on his side? Do you even care about Kihyun at all?”  
Hoseok snorted. They were screaming by now.

“You may be his boyfriend, Changkyun, but this doesn’t mean you’re the only one who wants to protect him. Of course I care about Kihyun, which is why I want to put this behind us, I fucking move on!”

“Well, then move the fuck on! But don’t expect me to just forget…”

“Stop!” The four boys on the living room turned around, startled, only to see Kihyun standing by the kitchen door, Hyungwon looking at him worriedly. There were tears on the boy’s eyes, but Hoseok could tell he wasn’t in headspace anymore. “Just… just fucking stop.”

And with that he left, running to his room. Hyungwon sighed.

“Did you really have to do this? Right now?”

Hoseok and Changkyun looked down, guiltily. At this moment the dorm door opened.

“Hey, guys, I’m… what the hell happened?”

Hoseok looked at Hyunwoo, who had just arrived. Well, this would be fun to explain.

 

There was a knock on the door. Kihyun dried his cheeks on his pillow, sitting up as the person came in without waiting for an answer. It was Hyungwon.

“Hey.” Kihyun nodded, to show he’d heard. Hyungwon sat next to him. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that earlier. I guess you must want to be alone, right now, but we are about to have a talk. You should come.”

Kihyun sighed. He was still too confused. Being pulled out of little space so suddenly, hearing his friends fighting, mostly because of him, finding out that Minhyuk was a little as well… it was all too much. Everything was jumbled up in his mind, while he tried without success to untangle his thoughts and get them straight. He didn’t know how to feel about Minhyuk being little, didn’t know what to tell the others about the situation.

“I don’t… I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Hyungwon held his hand, squeezing it.

“You don’t have to say anything. We just want you there.”

Kihyun sighed again, but nodded. Hyungwon let go of his hand, and the two of them headed out.

Everyone was at the kitchen, sitting by the table. Kihyun entered the room and sat down without looking at anyone. Hyungwon sat by his side, and he felt slightly safer between him and Hyunwoo.

“Ok. Now that all of us are here, Minhyuk, please tell us what happened today.”

Kihyun felt calmer as Hyunwoo talked, seeming to know what he was doing. Minhyuk sighed.

“Today, when all of you left, Kihyun and I decided to watch TV. We were watching a drama, and then it ended and My Neighbor Totoro came on, and I guess it made Ki fall into little space. I didn’t know what to do, and I was going to call Hoseok hyung, but then Kihyun asked me to play with him, and I… well, I couldn’t resist those puppy eyes. So I sat down to play with him and… and I fell into little space. Hoseok hyung came home a while later and took care of us, and then when he putting Ki to sleep and I was watching TV I came out of headspace.”

Hyunwoo nodded at the explanation.

“Ok, and who wants to tell me about the fight?” Changkyun opened his mouth, but Hyunwoo didn’t let him speak. “Not you, Changkyunnie. Not you either, Hoseok.”

Hyungwon raised his hand. Hyunwoo nodded at him.

“I didn’t hear all of it. I just know we arrived at the dorm and Kihyun was playing with Minhyuk. He got up to talk to us when he noticed us, but Changkyun was obviously getting angry, so I took Kihyun away. We were in the kitchen when we heard them screaming, and at first Kihyun was scared. But then something seemed to change and he wasn’t in little space anymore. I tried to keep him from going out there, but he did and told them to stop, before going to our room. They stopped and that’s when you got here.”

Hyunwoo nodded and turned to Jooheon. The boy seemed uneasy, looking from Hoseok to Changkyun and to Hyunwoo.

“I, uhn… well, once Hyungwon hyung took Kihyun away, Changkyun asked Minhyuk hyung to explain. Hyung said that he was sorry for the way he’d reacted to Ki hyung being little, and said that he was willing to help us fix things in any way he could. Then Changkyunnie said he didn’t believe Minhyuk hyung, and when Hoseok hyung said that it was true, Changkyunnie blew up, and they started fighting, until Kihyun hyung told them to stop.”

Once Jooheon ended, Hyunwoo sighed.  
“Ok. Then, Minhyuk is little. Changkyunnie, why were you so angry if he was trying to apologize? Don’t you want to fix things? Don’t you want us to go back to how we were before? Without all of this tension?”

Changkyun sighed at the leader’s words.

“I just… Look, I’m sorry, I just remembered how awful Kihyun felt after Minhyuk hyung didn’t accept his little side. And then suddenly hyung is saying that he’s little too and wants to help make things right. I get it that I should be happy, but I just felt that it was so unfair.”

He was calmer, even sounding a bit apologetic. Minhyuk sighed.

“I understand Changkyunnie. I was an ass, I fucked up badly, he has the right to be upset.”

Hyunwoo frowned, than turned to Kihyun.

“Has anyone bothered to ask Kihyun’s opinion?”

And then all eyes were on Kihyun and he felt his heartbeat speeding up. He turned to Hyungwon.

“You don’t have to say anything, hyung.”

He whispered to the older. Kihyun took a shaky breath and turned to Hyunwoo. The leader nodded at him.

“What are you thinking right now, Ki?”

Kihyun shook his head.

“I’m thinking that this whole thing has only caused problems.”

Everyone went silent after statement. Hoseok seemed about to break down crying.

“What do you mean, Ki?”

Kihyun sighed, turning to his boyfriend.

“Ever since this whole thing started, all it’s caused it trouble. We’ve fought more than ever, we’ve had to tiptoe around each other, and… and you guys have had to work even more, and…”

Hyungwon slipped his hand into Kihyun’s and the older gripped it tight, trying not to cry.

“Ki…” Hoseok’s voice broke. He hated to see Kihyun like that. “Ki, that’s not true. Ok, we fought, but we’re working on that. And we… Ki, you don’t see how much we like taking care of you. How much we like being your caregivers. We feel happy when we take care of you. It’s like we can forget our worries for a while and just be with you. It’s calming as fuck. So it’s not just for you. It’s for all of us.”

Kihyun bit his lip.

“I don’t want to see you guys fighting.”

Everyone went silent, just looking at each other. Changkyun was the first to react.

“I think we should all apologize to each other. To anyone we think we own an apology to.” Everyone looked at the maknae. “I’ll start. I’m sorry, Minhyuk hyung. I’m sorry for screaming at you and for reacting the way I did. I don’t mind you being little. I was just upset and took it out on you. So I’m sorry. To you too, Hoseok hyung. I shouldn’t have accused you of things that aren’t true and I shouldn’t have yelled. And I’m sorry to you, Ki hyung, for scaring you and making you think any of this is your fault. It isn’t.”

Hoseok smiled at the maknae. This was the kid he knew. The caring kid that hated to see others fighting or upset.

“Apology accepted, Changkyunnie.” He said. Changkyun smiled at him. “I’m sorry for yelling back, I guess. And fighting with you. I should have seen you were upset and been more careful. I’m sorry for upsetting you, Kihyun.”

Changkyun nodded and Kihyun gave a tiny smile. Minhyuk cleaned his throat.

“I want to apologize to all of you. To you guys, for all the things I put you through when I didn’t accept Kihyun. To Kihyun. I’m sorry, Ki. I really am. For the way I reacted, for not apologizing properly. For making you think you were wrong for liking this. I was wrong. If I could, I’d erase everything I said. And I promise from now own I’ll do what I can to make up for it.”

Once Minhyuk finished, Hyunwoo smiled.

“Well, now that was easy, right?” Everyone groaned and the leader chuckled. “Great. So now can we please eat? I’m hungry.”

Everyone laughed, and like that the heavy mood that had settled on them lifted, and they were back to being the group they were before.

 

They had finished eating and were working on their own things when Minhyuk found Kihyun on their room.

“Hey.”

Kihyun turned away from where he’d been looking through the window. He smiled and made space for the older.

“Hey. Need anything?”

Minhyuk shook his head.

“I wanted to ask how you are, actually. I never got your opinion on all of this.”

Kihyun sighed.

“I… I’m ok. Or, I’m getting better, at least. I wasn’t too sure how to feel, but after we talked I noticed there’s no reason to be upset with you or the others.”

Minhyuk nodded at the explanation.

“I guess it’ll get better with time.”

Kihyun nodded.

“I hope.”

They were silent for a while. Minhyuk was the one to break it.

“Hoseok hyung told me you could help me. With the whole… ageplay thing.”

Kihyun bit his bottom lip.

“I can. I’m still learning, to be honest. But I can help you.”

Minhyuk smiled.

“Thanks, Ki.”

The younger snorted.

“Yeah, you’re welcome. Now stop with this mushy, touchy-feely talk or get out.”

Minhyuk laughed.

“I hope you never change, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun smiled. For the first time, he didn’t want to.


	15. Happy Birthday, Kihyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I said the next chapter would be little(r), but I really wanted to post something for Kihyun's birthday, so... yeah. I wanted to post the talk with Minhyuk first, though, which is why I rushed to post the last chapter. It also explains why these two might not be so good? I didn't exactly have time to review them, but oh well. Hope you like it!

“Have you gotten everything?”

Hyungwon rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Hoseok hyung. For the last time, I have everything.”

Hoseok didn’t seem satisfied.

“You sure? You didn’t forget the cake, right? Or the candles? Or his…”

“Hyung!” Interrupted Hyungwon, tired of trying to carry everything and talk on the phone at the same time. “I’ve got it. Don’t worry. Go bother Minhyukie.”

Hoseok sighed, but stopped nagging.

“Ok, you’re right.” Hyungwon rolled his eyes again. “I just want everything to be perfect.”

Hyungwon couldn’t help but to smile. Hoseok was too sweet.

“It’ll be, hyung. You don’t have to worry.”

He heard Hoseok taking a deep breath.

“Ok. Ok, I’m waiting for you, then.”

 

Hoseok turned off the phone and sighed. He looked towards Kihyun’s room, where the boy was asleep.

It was Kihyun’s birthday. Or, well, the end of his birthday, since it was already nigh time. And all in all, it hadn’t been the best day. First, they’d been dragged out way too early in the morning, without even having the time to eat properly. They’d barely been able to wish Kihyun a happy birthday before they were being shoved out of the door.

They had tried their best to pay attention to the boy. Kihyun didn’t show it, he’d rather die than to show it, but everyone knew how excited the boy got on his birthday. And so, they did their best to pay attention to him and make him happy, but… it was hard.

They hadn’t had anything scheduled, but apparently their manager had forgotten to tell them about their hairdresser appointment. They’d spent a long time at the hairdresser, and then had been rushed for a meeting with the company board, to discuss dates and deadlines, and had been stressful, as it always was.

It was obvious, through the day, that Kihyun was getting sadder and sadder. It broke the others heart, but there was nothing they could do. If they could, they’d have thrown everything away and taken the boy home to give him an appropriate birthday day. But they couldn’t. As much as they wanted, they couldn’t.

When they got home, the sun had already set, and Kihyun looked absolutely defeated. The others had planned on giving his gifts once they got home, but Kihyun didn’t them the time, simply getting up from the van and heading straight to his bedroom as soon as they arrived.. The others looked at each other, until Changkyun sighed and got up.

 

“Kihyun hyung?”

He called, already entering the room. Kihyun was lying on his tummy on the bed, hugging his bunny. His shoulders were shaking.

“Go away.”

He mumbled. Changkyun sighed. He ignored the order and moved to sit next to Kihyun on the bed.

“Hey, look at me.” Kihyun sniffed, but obeyed. Changkyun could feel his heart breaking as he saw the tears on the other’s eyes and cheeks. “Oh, Kihyunnie…”

It was what it took for the older to break down crying.

“Daddy, why no one like Kiyunnie?”

Changkyun pulled the boy into a tight hug.

“Oh, Kihyunnie… Everyone loves you, baby. We just had a hard day. Please don’t cry.”

Kihyun continued to cry, despite the younger’s words. Changkyun shushed, trying to make him calm down, but it didn’t seem to be working out. When he noticed he’d need more than that, he picked Kihyun up. He started walking around the room, rocking the boy slightly, and picked Kihyun’s pacifier up from its spot on the boy’s bedside table.

With his pacifier and Changkyun rocking him, Kihyun’s sobs slowly died down and in a few minutes he was asleep. The maknae sighed, relieved. He carefully put the boy down on his bed, covering him and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“We’ll show you how much we love you, Ki.”

He whispered to the sleeping boy, before leaving the room.

 

“How is he?”

Changkyun raised an eyebrow at Hoseok’s question. He had no doubt they’d all heard Kihyun crying, so he didn’t exactly see the purpose to that question. He answered it nonetheless.

“Bad. You know how Kihyun hyung is about his birthday, even if he doesn’t admit it. He fell into little space.”

Hoseok sighed, nodding. Hyungwon cleared his throat.

“He’s sleeping, right?” Changkyun nodded. “And what if we do something for him, before he wakes up?”

Hyunwoo, who had been silent, frowned.

“Right now?”

Hyungwon nodded.

“Yes. I mean, we could go out to get a cake. We have leftover decorations we can use. Plus, we all have presents for little Kihyun. We can put something up and get him up.”

The others seemed to think for a second. Then Changkyun smiled.

“I think it’s a perfect idea.”

And like that, five minutes later, Hyungwon was on a quest to buy a chocolate cake, at seven in the night, while the others started putting things together at the dorm.

 

When Hyungwon arrived back at the dorm, cake, candles, sweets and a few balloons in hand, he was shocked.

The table had been set with a colourful tablecloth he didn’t even know they had. On top of it there were six plates, plus Kihyun’s plastic utensils. There were also two empty bowls, and the boys’ presents for Kihyun stacked at a corner, next to a few of Kihyun’s stuffed animals. It looked adorable, even if it wasn’t much,.

“Hey, I brought the cake!”

He called. Hoseok came running from the kitchen, Changkyun on his heel.

“Thanks, Hyungwonnie, you’re the best. Now come help us.”

Hyungwon laughed at the older, handing him the cake and watching him and the maknae disappear into the kitchen once again.

They worked quickly. Soon the balloons were up and the bowls were filled with sweets. There was a bowl of seaweed soup, too, since they hadn’t eaten much during the day and didn’t want Kihyun to be sick from eating just candy. The cake had been decorated with colourful start and icing and was now resting on top of the table as well. Once they were ready, it was almost nine pm. They all evaluated the result and Hoseok nodded to Changkyun.

 

Kihyun whined as he was woken up. He didn’t feel good, and he was still so sad, and he didn’t want to get up. But Changkyun was calling him, and he didn’t want to make his caregiver sad like he was, so he ended up opening his eyes, pouting at the maknae.

“Hey, baby. I bet you’re tired, but we have a surprise for you.”

Kihyun perked up. A surprise?

“It still Kiyunnie’s b-birthday?”

Changkyun chuckled at the way Kihyun stumble over the word ‘birthday’ and nodded, picking the boy up.

“It is, pumpkin. Now close your eyes.”

The little excitedly closed his eyes, almost bouncing in excitement as Changkyun carried him to the living room, sleep clearly forgotten.

“Daddy, can Kiyunnie look?”

Changkyun chuckled.

“Just a second more, baby. Ok, now look.”

Kihyun opened his eyes and his mouth fell open.

“Surprise!”

Everyone said. The little was still staring at it, eyes shining and mouth hanging open.

“Do you like it, Kihyunnie?” Asked Changkyun. Kihyun finally turned to him, before his lower lip began to tremble. He buried his face on Changkyun’s shoulder. The maknae frowned. “What’s it, baby?”

Kihyun hugged him tighter.  
“Thank you, daddy.”

He whispered. Changkyun melted.

“You’re welcome, baby. You deserve the best.”

Kihyun slowly stopped crying, then asked to be put down. The others expected him to run to the presents or sweets, but he made a straight line to Hoseok, hugging him. he made his way through all of the members, who only stared, stunned at how sweet the boy was. Once he reached Changkyun again, he finally turned to the table.

“Kiyunnie pwesents?”

Changkyun chuckled.

“Yes, baby, they’re yours.”

Kihyun squealed as Hyunwoo put the presents on the floor in front of him, starting to rip the packages.

“They’re pens that you can use to draw on the wall when you’re showering, Kihyunnie.”

Explained the leader, as Kihyun opened the present. The boy squealed and put the pens by his side. He started opening the next one, gasping as he uncovered a huge Totoro plushy. He looked at the others and Hyungwon and Hoseok lifted their hands. Kihyun hugged the plushy, moving it out of the way with Changkyun’s help, afterwards.

Next came Jooheon’s and Minhyuk’s present, a set of little plastic pots and plates and food, that Kihyun squealed at, his love for cooking clearly extending to his little space. Now at least they wouldn’t have to hide the food when Kihyun entered the kitchen. And finally came Changkyun’s present. Kihyun opened it carefully, softly pulling out the present from the package. And then his eyes widened. He turned to Changkyun. The maknae smiled as the little hugged the onesie close to his chest.

“Daddy… can… can I…?”

Changkyun chuckled.

“Of course, baby. Come here.”

He took the Totoro onesie from Kihyun and went to undress the boy, but Kihyun whined, cheeks going red.

“Daddy… not hewe.”

He whined, pouting. Changkyun laughed again.

“Sorry, baby, I forgot. Come with me.”

He took Kihyun by the hand to the bathroom. They still hadn’t figured out what Kihyun’s criteria was as to who could see him changing clothes or showering and when.

They came back soon after, Kihyun happily skipping in his new Totoro onesie. The others cooed, making the boy blush but smile.

“And now how about we get to that cake?”

Suggested Minhyuk. Kihyun clapped and ran to the table.

 

The little ate his soup without much fuss – and without much mess, since he let Hoseok feed him. He then went straight for the cake, eating it with his hands when he didn’t find anything else to get it with. He proceeded to then feed all of the stuffed animals on the table, and then each one of his caregivers got a piece.

They watched as the boy jumped around the dorm, laughing and playing. It was a heart-warming sight.

“I’m tired as fuck, but I’m glad we did this.”

Hyungwon said, as he found Hoseok half asleep on the couch. The boy looked at him, smiling softly.

“Hum, me too. Kihyunnie deserves the best. I hate to see him sad.”

The taller boy nodded, ignoring the way his heart stopped beating for a second as Hoseok laid his head on his thigh. He carefully reached forward to run a hand through the older’s hair. It was on that position that Kihyun found them. The boy took a look, before squealing and running away.

“Uhn… what was that?”

Asked Hoseok, chuckling. Hyungwon shrugged. He had no idea.

They found out fifteen minutes later, when Kihyun woke them up from their nap by pulling their clothes. The two boys slowly opened his eyes.

“What is it, Kihyunnie?”

Hoseok’s voice was soft, and Hyungwon was glad the older was talking, because he was still half asleep. Kihyun handed them a piece of paper. Hoseok took it and Hyungwon peaked at it. It was a drawing, way too colourful and characteristically Kihyun’s.

“It’s pretty, baby. Can you explain it to me?”

Kihyun beamed proud, seeming glad that Hyungwon had asked. He pointed at the two stick figures holding hands.

“This Wonwon. This appa. Appa and Wonwon holding hands cause they love each other. And Kiyunnie dwew a heawt too!”

Hyungwon felt his cheeks burning. He risked a glance at Hoseok, but the boy was looking away from him, his ears and cheeks bright red.

“Oh. It’s, uhn… it’s really pretty, Kihyunnie.”

Managed to say the younger. Kihyun trusted the paper towards him.

“Wonwon keep.”

He said. Hyungwon took it, thanking the little, but still extremely embarrassed. There was a laugh from behind Kihyun and Hyungwon looked up to see Changkyun seeming incredibly amused. Hyungwon glared.

“Don’t you dare say a word.”

He threatened. Changkyun laughed.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. C’mon, Kihyunnie, Flopsy will be sad if you are late for the cake party you set up.”

As the two left, Hyungwon risked another look at Hoseok. The boy was looking at him, and before Hyungwon could turn away, the older gave him a tiny smile. He smiled back. Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

 

Hyunwoo was the one to carry an asleep Kihyun out of the kitchen, not much later. He nudged Changkyun, who was the only one left in the living room, on the couch napping. The boy immediately woke up. He took in the sight of the little and smiled, standing up and extending his arms to take him.

“Thank you, hyung. For everything.”

Hyunwoo smiled.

“It was nothing. You know all of us would go to hell and back for Kihyun. Or for any one else in the band, for that matter.”

Changkyun smiled, adjusting Kihyun in his arms.

“I know." They stayed silent for a while, until Kihyun whined. Changkyun smiled. "We should go to sleep now. Goodnight, hyung.”

And with that he left for their bedroom. He carefully laid Kihyun on the bed, trying not to dislodge the boy’s bunny or his pacifier. Kihyun immediately fisted his hand on the covers, sighing contentedly on his sleep. Changkyun smiled and pressed a kiss to the boy’s forehead, then to his cheeks.

“Sleep well, Kihyunnie, I love you.”

He didn’t hear Kihyun’s muffled ‘Love you too, daddy.’

 

On the next day, as Kihyun got ready for the day, Changkyun approached him. Kihyun nodded to acknowledge his boyfriend’s presence, and Changkyun smiled at him.

“You know, I’ve got one more present to you.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened.

“Kyunnie, you already gave me a present for little space and present for when I’m not in headspace, I saw it this morning. You don’t need to give me anyth…”

Changkyun shushed him.

“I’m your boyfriend, hyung. Let me spoil you on your birthday.” And saying that he took out a little box from his pocket. He handed it to Kihyun. The boy stared at the box, before looking back at Changkyun. The maknae snorted. “It’s not a ring, hyung, I’m not asking you to marry me.”

Kihyun blushed and frowned, shoving his boyfriend. Then, carefully, he opened the box. And his breath hitched.

The necklace didn’t look like anything special. It was simple, just a silver chain with a little pendant hanging from it. But on the little pendant, engraved so small that Kihyun could barely see it, was a little phrase. A simple ‘My heart is yours’, that Kihyun would have laughed at, had he seen it anywhere else. But in that moment, for some stupid reason – maybe the fact that he noticed that he was so utterly in love with this kid that he could breath and Kihyun would think he was the best human on the planet –, he started crying. He started crying like a fool, right in front of Changkyun.

“Hyung, are you crying?”

The younger’s tone was equal parts teasing and fond. Kihyun groaned.

“Yes. It’s so mushy and disgusting that I can’t help but to cry. Those are tears of despair.”

Changkyun chuckled pulled the older closer. Kihyun glared at him.

“Sorry, babe. Next time I’ll be less cheesy.”

Kihyun snorted.

“Don’t you dare. Now put this on for me.”

Changkyun obeyed, his cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling. Once he was done, Kihyun turned around and placed a kiss right on the boy’s lips.

“I love you, Changkyunnie.”

He wondered if the maknae could feel how hard his heart was beating as he said those words. If he’d paid attention, he would have noticed the boy’s heart beating just as fast.

“I love you too, hyung.”


	16. Little(r)

Kihyun was stressed. That wasn’t unusual, not at all. He was an idol after all. But this was a different kind of stress. Kihyun had been feeling on edge all day, despite it being the first day of their three days break. He was feeling anxious and nervous, tired and stressed, and usually by now he should already be in little space for a long time, all things considered. But the thing was… he couldn’t.

He had tried. He usually didn’t try to go into little space, because he was still a bit embarrassed about it. He was working on getting rid of the embarrassment; the fact that Minhyuk had accepted him and was also a little helped a lot. And he was already much better, but he knew it would take more work for him to fee fully comfortable with consciously trying to go into little space. This time, however, he was trying. And it. Wasn’t. Working.

Kihyun had never had a problem with going into little space. Sometimes he even slipped without intending to, without even trying. So to be trying and not succeeding, when he felt like he needed it more than ever, was pretty frustrating. He had tried playing with his stuffed animals, drinking apple juice from his sippy cup, tried to play with his building blocks, tried colouring, but nothing had worked. It was starting to annoy him.

He was trying to talk to Flopsy – because usually he could get into little space just by looking at Flopsy – when Hoseok entered the room. Kihyun immediately shoved the toy away, blushing. Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

“Uhn, what…?”

The older started, uncertain. Kihyun didn’t seem like he was in little space, but he was playing with his stuffed bunny. Hoseok was confused.

“It’s nothing. I just…”

Hoseok waited, but Kihyun just shrugged, not finishing his sentence. Hoseok sat next to him.

“What happened? Are you feeling little? Is something wrong?”

Kihyun was debating in his mind. He didn’t want to tell Hoseok that he was trying to get into little space. He was embarrassed about actively trying to do that. But then again… he trusted Hoseok.

“I can’t… I’ve been trying all morning, but I… I can’t.”

He explained bitterly. Hoseok hummed.

“Hum, have you tried playing with your toys?”

Asked Hoseok. Kihyun raised a judging eyebrow at him, but his cheeks were pink.

“No, no, I’ve been trying to feel little by doing taxes, hyung.”

He bit out. Hoseok rolled his eyes, past the point of getting offended by Kihyun’s sarcasm.

“Well, do you want me to help?”

He asked. Kihyun bit his lip. He thought of refusing, because just the idea was already embarrassing. But he really wanted this. He really needed this. He nodded. Hoseok smiled.

“Well, then come here.”

 

Kihyun wanted to die. He was wearing a onesie – his hamster onesie –, paci in his mouth and some toys scattered around. Hoseok was trying to tickle him, but instead of enjoying it like he usually did, he wanted to get away. He sighed. He just wanted to be little. Why couldn’t he?

Hoseok stopped tickling him and sighed too. Kihyun felt guilty. The older had been trying to help him for a while, but all he’d gotten was Kihyun’s snappy comments. He looked at Kihyun. Kihyun looked at him and then down, embarrassed. And then someone else entered the room.

Changkyun handed Hoseok a water bottle. Hoseok looked at him, confused.

“It’s milk with vanilla. Try feeding him, hyung.”

He said. Kihyun opened his mouth to complain, taking his pacifier out, but Changkyun was already gone. Hoseok looked at the younger boy. Kihyun frowned. And then Hoseok reached forward and before Kihyun knew it he was on the older’s lap.

“Hyung!”

He complained, but Hoseok was already pressing the bottle to Kihyun’s lips and the younger opened his mouth, almost instinctively. It was a normal water bottle, one of the ones Hoseok used when he went to the gym. But in the position Kihyun was in it felt just as what he though a baby bottle would feel like. And Kihyun wasn’t a baby, even when in little space! So why… why was he feeling the urge to drink the milk?

“Relax, baby. Just drink it, you’ll feel better.”

Kihyun sighed and started sucking.

 

Hoseok was amazed. Once Kihyun started sucking on the bottle he had immediately relaxed, going almost limp against Hoseok. He whined, sucking eagerly and clearly enjoying the warm and sweet milk. It was weird. They’d once talked about Kihyun’s little age. The boy had said littles didn’t usually have a specified age, but they’d come to the conclusion that he fell somewhere between three and six years old.

It also wasn’t like he’d never gone littler. Sometimes he had more obvious speech problems or liked more childish activities. But now… Kihyun had never expressed a desire to have a bottle and be fed like that. He loved his sippy cup and sometimes enjoyed feeding himself, although he also liked it when Hoseok played plane when feeding him. This side of him, younger than usual, was new – and cute, as always – and Hoseok was curious to explore it.

Once the boy finished the bottle, Hoseok got up, carrying him. Kihyun whined, making Hoseok remember the littles’ pacifier. He picked it up and put it on Kihyun’s mouth. Kihyun sighed contentedly and Hoseok smiled gladly. He headed outside.

As soon as he entered the living room the others surrounded him, eager to see if Hoseok had succeeded. The older had told them he was trying to help Kihyun, and they had been worried about the boy, wondering why all of a sudden he needed help getting into little space.

They cooed as they saw the older carrying Kihyun and Minhyuk went around Hoseok to face the little.

“Hey, baby! How are you feeling?”

He asked. Kihyun tilted his head. Hoseok laughed at Minhyuk’s confused expression.

“I think he’s deeper in little space today. Like, younger, you know?”

Minhyuk’s squeal startled the little, who whined and hid his face on Hoseok’s neck. Hoseok could see all of the others melting.

“Aigo, that’s so cute, hyung! Can we play with him? Pretty please?”

Asked Jooheon. Hoseok laughed. Sometimes he wondered if Kihyun and Minhyuk were really the littles in their group.

“Sure, let me just sit down.”

He said, sitting on the couch and handling Kihyun so that the boy was still on his lap but facing the others. Kihyun looked around shyly. Jooheon kneeled in front of Hoseok and covered his eyes.

“Oh, where is Kihyunnie?” He asked, moving his head as if he was looking around. Kihyun tilted his head. Jooheon uncovered his eyes and opened his mouth, faking shock. “Here he is!”

Hoseok couldn’t help but to laugh at Kihyun’s giggle. Jooheon smiled, happy that he’d made the boy laugh, and repeated the action. Kihyun laughed again, reaching forward and clumsily covering Jooheon’s eyes, before uncovering them and squealing, jumping on Hoseok’s lap and making everyone laugh.

 

Baby Kihyun was adorable. Of course, there were fewer options of activities to do with him, but everyone was entranced. Each of the members had their time with him, and halfway through Changkyun took Hoseok’s place, so that the older could walk around and regain feeling in his legs.

After half an hour of playing, though, Kihyun started yawning and the maknae shooed the others away.

“He’s a baby, hyung, of course he gets sleepy quickly.”

He said, when Minhyuk complained. Everyone groaned and whined, but they all knew it was better to let the boy sleep. Once Minhyuk and Hyunwoo had skipped naptime. They knew better than to try it again, especially when Kihyun was littler than usual. And so, Changkyun headed to Kihyun’s room carrying the older

 

It was probably the shock that startled Kihyun out of little space.

Kihyun woke up alone in his bed, feeling something wet and cold under him. He opened his eyes slowly, confused as to why it was cold if he was covered. He rolled on the bed, trying to get rid of the covers, and when he managed to do so his eyes widened. In a second his pacifier had been spit out and he was standing up, cheeks burning with embarrassment. He’d wet the bed. He hadn’t wet the bed since he was a little kid, how the fuck had this happened?

He should have known better than to make so much noise, because in two seconds someone was in his room. He quickly pulled his blanket to cover the wet spot in his pants, trying not to look too scared. By the look on Hoseok’s face it didn’t work.

“Kihyunnie? Are you ok? Not feeling little anymore? You were so stressed, I thought you would…”

Kihyun’s heartbeat quickened as he saw the older’s eyes move to the bed, where there was an obvious wet spot, uncovered now that Kihyun was using the blanket to cover himself. He cursed. Hoseok would know, and he would laugh, and he would tell everyone, and they would laugh too, and…

“Ki. Hey, it’s ok. Just breathe, ok? With me, c’mon.” Kihyun hadn’t even noticed he was hyperventilating. He followed the older’s breath, not wanting to have a panic attack on top of it all. “That’s it, you’re doing good.”

They stayed like that for a while, until Kihyun felt that he was under control. And then he crouched down and buried his face on his hands.  
“I’m sorry, hyung, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean to.”

He said. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Ki, it’s ok. It happens. We should have known. You were deeper in little space than you’ve ever been, so it’s not that surprising.”

Kihyun shook his head.

“I just… I just wet the bed, hyung. How can you say it’s ok?”

Hoseok sighed.

“It is ok. And it’s not like it always happens. It’s obviously just a side effect of being littler. So don’t worry, ok? Trust me.”

Kihyun wasn’t convinced, but he sighed and nodded, finally looking up at Hoseok. The older extended a hand and Kihyun took it, standing up.

“C’mon, take your clothes off and we’ll wash them with your sheets. Then I can run you a bath. How does that sound?”

Kihyun nodded. He knew Hoseok was trying to get him back into little space, but Kihyun wasn’t going to let that happen anytime soon.

 

Or so he thought. Expect as soon as Hoseok started bathing him, Kihyun felt himself relaxing and before he knew it he was playing with the bubbles and giggling. Hoseok smiled, relieved.

The older had seen how embarrassed and angry Kihyun was about wetting the bed, and he’d thought it would take longer for the boy to allow himself to go into little space again. But it hadn’t, and Hoseok figured Kihyun must have been really feeling little that day, and getting startled out of headspace probably didn’t help much.

Once he finished washing Kihyun, he helped the little out of the bath and dried him carefully, before wrapping him in the towel and guiding the boy to his room. He then helped the boy get dressed on a cute lion shirt and sweatpants, complete with non-slip lion socks.

“What do you want to do now, bug?”

He asked. The little thought for a while before smiling. Then he touched Hoseok and ran away, squealing. Hoseok was surprised for a second, before understanding. He laughed to himself and got up, running after Kihyun.

Kihyun ran into the kitchen, giggling, and hid behind Changkyun, who had just put down his used bowl of food. The maknae looked at the boy and Kihyun gestured for him to be quiet. Changkyun laughed as he heard Hoseok searching for the boy around the dorm.

When the older entered the kitchen, Kihyun squealed and tried to make himself smaller on his place behind Changkyun. Hoseok immediately spotted the boy, but pretended not to.

“Hey, Changkyunnie, have you seen Kihyunnie?”

Changkyun laughed.

“No, hyung, haven’t seen him.”

He said, smiling innocently. Hoseok hummed.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to look somewhere else, then.”

He said, leaving the kitchen. Behind Changkyun, Kihyun laughed.

“He gone?”

He asked. Changkyun nodded.

“Yes, he’s gone. You better find somewhere else to hide!”

He said. Kihyun nodded and ran away. As soon as he exited the kitchen, though, Hoseok jumped from behind the couch. Kihyun squealed, startled, and tried to run away, but Hoseok was faster. He caught the little and started tickling him, knowing how much Kihyun liked it.

Soon the dorm was a mess, as everyone wanted to play with the little, until Hyunwoo put an end to it, telling them dinner was ready.

 

Changkyun noticed Kihyun was getting littler when the boy started looking at the food as if it was an alien. When he put a piece of chicken in his mouth – with his hands, mind you – and started sucking on it instead of chewing, the maknae decided it was enough and got up to get something the boy could eat.

Thankfully, after trying to suck on it for a while, Kihyun spit the chicken. Changkyun nodded towards his plate and Hoseok quickly understood, taking it away. Kihyun whined, making grabby hands to the food and hitting his feet against the chair. He wasn’t using words anymore, one more sign of his current headspace.

“Hey, hey, no need to cry, baby, we’re getting you something better, ok?”

Said Hoseok. Kihyun seemed to calm down a bit, and Jooheon was quick to pick him up, calming him down further.

Soon Changkyun came back with a plate of mashed potatoes and a plastic spoon. He sat next to Jooheon, who turned the little towards the table.

“Open up, baby, aaaah.”

Said the maknae, opening his mouth as an example. Kihyun did as he was told, gladly eating the mashed potatoes. Changkyun sighed in relief. At least he could eat that.

Around the table, the others started getting up to tidy everything up, leaving the two youngest to deal with the little. One by one they left the room, bidding goodnight and kissing Kihyun’s cheek, making the little giggle.

It took half an hour more for Kihyun to finish eating, and by then his face was all dirty, as well as his hands and shirt. Jooheon sighed and Changkyun laughed.

“Don’t worry, hyung, I’ll get him ready for bed. Go to sleep.”

Jooheon smiled gladly and went to bed, bidding both boys goodnight.

Changkyun finished cleaning the kitchen and getting Kihyun ready, lying in bed with the boy afterwards. He pressed a kiss to the tip of Kihyun’s nose and then to the shield of his pacifier. Kihyun smiled sleepily, and a second later they were both out like a light.

 

Changkyun woke up to something wet on his leg. He opened his eyes, confused, and lifted the covers. What he saw made him sigh and rub his temples. Fuck, Kihyun would be mortified when he woke up. Hoseok had told them about the boy’s accident the day before, and about how Kihyun had been so embarrassed that he’d come out of little space.

He sighed and got up. He should have expected this. Kihyun had wet the bed because he was littler than he usually was. When he fell back in that headspace, they should have known that it would happen. But now there was no turning back. He headed out to get Hoseok, hoping the older would know what to do.

 

Kihyun was woken up by someone calling him. He wasn’t feeling little anymore, he noted, but there was something weird that he couldn’t quite place.

“Kihyunnie, come on, baby, wake up.”

He opened his eyes, taking his pacifier out of his mouth. Hoseok and Changkyun were looking down at him, expressions soft, but worried. And then Kihyun managed to place the weird felling. He covered his face, blushing.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, not again.”

“Ki, get up. Let’s put these sheets to wash.”

Said Hoseok, softly. Kihyun sat up, trying not to cry. And then he noticed he was on Changkyun’s bed.

“Fuck. Kyun… did… did I…?”

Changkyun bit his lip.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not a big deal, hyung.”

Said the boy, trying to reassure his boyfriend. Kihyun cursed again, before getting up. His dinosaur pyjamas were icky and wet and cold, and he just wanted to die.

 

Changkyun showered with the boy and let him get dressed, before him and Hoseok sat Kihyun down on the couch.

“Ki, we wanted to talk to you.” Kihyun gulped at Hoseok’s words. This was probably when they would tell him that wetting the bed was too far and they didn’t want to do this anymore, and then Kihyun would have to… “I can see you overthinking, stop, it’s no big deal.”

Kihyun sighed.

“What is it, hyung?”

Hoseok looked at him, seeming worried.

“Please don’t freak out, ok?”

Kihyun raised an eyebrow.

“I thought it was ‘no big deal’, hyung.”

He said, crossing his arms.

“It isn’t.” Answered Hoseok. “We were thinking… that maybe we could get something for when you get littler. For when you go to sleep, you know?”

Kihyun could feel the blood going up to his face, making his cheeks redden.

“No fucking way.”

Hoseok and Changkyun sighed, already having expected the denial, and the maknae spoke up.

“Hyung, it really isn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like you’re always that deep in headspace. It’s the first time it’s happened, and it’s probably because of how stressed you were.”

Kihyun opened his mouth to complain, but Hoseok was faster.

“Don’t even try to deny it, we’ve noticed how stressed you’ve been. Ki, please consider it. It’ll spare us from having to wash clothes and sheets and it will be more comfortable for you.”

Kihyun knew they were right. And deep down, he felt like it was the best option, part of him even wanted it a little bit. But…

“Hyung, I don’t want… I’m not wearing diapers. Even if it’s once in a blue moon, I’m not.”

He said. But something in his voice must have given him away, because Hoseok insisted.

“Ki. Think about it, ok? We’ll talk again later. If you really don’t want it, then that’s ok. But think about it. And know that it’s no big deal. None of us care, and we’re not going to make fun of you. Ok?”

Kihyun sighed, but nodded. Hoseok and Changkyun smiled.

“Great. Now come help me make breakfast, hyung.”

Said Changkyun, pulling his boyfriend by the hand.

Hoseok smiled. He had a feeling Kihyun already had an answer for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, as last time most of you voted for prompts 8 or 9, all of the others had more or less the same amount of votes. So, I'll put them here and you can vote again!
> 
> 1\. Time Out - Kihyun misbehaves and throws a tantrum and the others have to give him a time-out  
> 2\. Fansign - Kihyun slips into little space during a fansign  
> 3\. Sick - Kihyun is sick and ends up falling into little space. The others have to take care of a sick little Kihyun  
> 4\. Baking - Little Kihyun and Little Minhyuk baking with the others  
> 5\. Shots - Kihyun has to take shots and ends up falling into little space  
> 6\. Nightmare - Kihyun has a nightmare and falls into little space when he wakes up  
> 7\. Shopping - The others convince Kihyun to shop for things for his little self
> 
> Hope you liked baby Kihyun!


	17. Baking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who is back? I'm sorry, I was really busy with University, and the Christmas challenge is hard >.< But here it is!

Hyungwon was sleeping peacefully when a weight on his bed woke him up. He internally groaned and kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, hoping that the person would just go away. Instead, he heard some giggling before someone sitting on top of him. He frowned. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to wake him up on a break day? Did they want to die?

The person on top of him poked his cheek. Then giggled and did it again. Hyungwon opened his eyes, a glare already on his face, absolutely ready to scream at the nuisance that thought that they could disturb him. And then he came face to face with a giggly Kihyun, who had his pacifier in his mouth and his bunny on his hand.

As Hyungwon’s eyes opened, Kihyun smiled behind his pacifier and his eyes almost disappeared, and Hyungwon completely melted. His glare immediately turned into a smile.

“Hey, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun squealed.

“Good moning, Wonwon!”

Hyungwon felt his smile widening. It had been a while since they’d last seen little Kihyun, with their busy schedule and Kihyun scared to fall deeper into little space again. He noticed how much he had missed it.

“Have you been awake for long?”

Hyungwon asked, sitting up and letting Kihyun snuggle against him. The boy nodded.

“Daddy and Kiyunnie pwayed with Flopsy aaaaall moning.”

Hyungwon looked at his clock. It was still 10am. He laughed, imagining how thrilled Changkyun must have been at being woken up at the crack of dawn. Then he looked at the boy on his lap and figured he couldn’t have minded much. Not when Kihyun was this cute.

“Hum, that sounds very nice, Kihyunnie. Now what do you say we get up so Wonwon can have breakfast? Then we can play some more.”

Kihyun squealed in delight and quickly got up, pulling on Hyungwon’s hand excitedly. Hyungwon laughed and let himself be dragged away. Yeah, there were worse ways to wake up.

 

When Hyungwon entered the kitchen, followed by Kihyun, Minhyuk, Changkyun and Hoseok were already there. The maknae and Hoseok were eating their food, the latter seeming a bit sleepy still, but Minhyuk was steering his food in the plate, making faces at it. Hyungwon frowned at the weird behaviour, but said nothing.

He helped Kihyun sit on one of the chairs, then headed to the cupboard, choosing something to eat.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, did you sleep well?”

Came Hoseok’s cheery voice. Kihyun hummed, and Hyungwon glanced back, laughing as he noticed how absorbed Kihyun was, playing with his bunny. Hoseok laughed too, before his eyes met Hyungwon’s. He smiled at the younger.

“Hey, Won. You don’t seem to mad.”

Hyungwon rolled his eyes, grabbing the bowl of food he’d prepared and heading to the table. He sat next to Kihyun.

“Have you seen this little pumpkin here? How can I be mad at this?”

He pinched Kihyun’s cheek, making the boy giggle, then was about to start eating his food when there was a loud clinking sound that startled everyone. All eyes turned to Minhyuk. The boy had dropped his fork on his plate – still full – and had crossed his arms pouting. Hoseok was the first to recover from the shock.

“Min? Are you ok?”

Minhyuk’s frown deepened and he glared at Hoseok. The older boy looked at Hyungwon, for help, but Hyungwon was completely lost, too. He turned to Changkyun. The maknae shrugged.

“Minmin?”

Called Kihyun, carefully. Minhyuk glared at him.

“Don’t want to talk to you.”

Kihyun’s lower lip began to wobble and Changkyun quickly got up, rushing to the boy. While he consoled Kihyun, the other two turned to frown at Minhyuk.

“Minhyuk!”

Minhyuk stared at him, defiant.

“He’s annoying.”

Hyungwon was confused. Weren’t they over this already? Minhyuk had fully accepted Kihyun, he loved taking care of the younger, be it as a caregiver or as an older little. What was going on?

“He didn’t do anything, what are you on about?”

Minhyuk crossed his arms tighter, and then it dawned in Hyungwon.

“Minmin, this was very mean of you, apologize to Kihyunnie.”

Hoseok looked at Hyungwon as if he’d grown another arm. Hyungwon ignored him, staring at Minhyuk with authority. He noticed the boy’s will was wavering, but only for a second, before Minhyuk huffed.

“Don’t want.”

Hyungwon didn’t have to look to see Kihyun’s hurt expression and Changkyun murderous one.

“Apologize or you’ll get a time out.”

He threatened. Only then it seemed to dawn on Hoseok. Minhyuk looked at Hyungwon’s fierce expression. Then he sighed and turned to Kihyun.

“I’m sorry.”

He mumbled. Hyungwon glanced at Kihyun. There were a few tear tracks on his cheeks, but as soon as Minhyuk apologized he smiled.

“Kiyunnie fogive Minmin.”

The younger’s acceptance seemed to make something shift inside of Minhyuk and the older pouted. Hoseok, ruffled his hair.

“Minmin, if you ever want us to give you attention, you can ask.” Minhyuk nodded, still pouting. Hoseok pinched his cheek. “C’mon, eat your food, I have something planned for us to do today.”

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow. He hoped this wouldn’t end too messy.

 

Jooheon and Changkyun had to go to the company to revise some tracks. Hyunwoo had a meeting to discuss their schedules. This left Hoseok and Hyungwon to take care of little Kihyun and little Minhyuk.

After breakfast, Hoseok had taken Minhyuk to his room to change into some more appropriate clothes. He came back to the living room with a happy Minhyuk trailing behind him and handed Hyungwon some clothes. The younger frowned.

“What are these for?”

Hoseok bit his lip.

“They’re for Ki. I thought they would be better for today.”

Hyungwon eyed the clothes. They were some of Hoseok’s old clothes, that he sometimes used to sleep. They would be too big on Kihyun, but Hyungwon supposed that was the idea. He shrugged.

“Kihyunnie, can you come here? We need to get you on some better clothes.”

Kihyun looked up from where he was playing with Minhyuk and smiled. He crawled towards Hyungwon and stopped in front of him, sitting on his feet and raising his arms. Hyungwon chuckled and took off Kihyun’s shirt, dressing him on Hoseok’s, then helped the boy stand up, changing his pants too. Once he was done, he patted the boy’s head, making Kihyun giggle.

“Ok, now follow me.”

Instructed Hoseok. Hyungwon should have run away when he noticed they were headed to the kitchen.

 

Hoseok’s genius idea was to bake.

“We’re gonna make Christmas cookies!”

He had exclaimed, excitedly. Hyungwon’s eyes had widened, but Minhyuk and Kihyun seemed delighted, clapping and giggling. Hyungwon had glared at Hoseok, his mind already going to the mess this would make. The older simply smiled goofily. Hyungwon shook his head. There was no going back now.

Hoseok helped Kihyun sit on the counter, and Minhyuk was standing between Hyungwon and Hoseok. In front of them were all the ingredients they would need, because Hoseok thought it would be more fun to do it from scratch.

“Well, first we need to prepare the dough. Then, I’ll show you guys the cookie cutters I got.”

Hoseok sounded as excited as Kihyun and Minhyuk, who were squealing at the prospect. Soon, they started on the dough. Hoseok weighted the right amount of sugar and helped Kihyun pour it on the bowl. Thankfully, most of it did get inside instead of on them, and Kihyun’s proud expression made Hyungwon think that maybe the mess was worth it.

Then came the butter, which Minhyuk insisted on putting on alone. Hyungwon flinched as some splashed on his, but Minhyuk was giggling and the younger didn’t have the heart to scold him. Hoseok was smiling, too, seeming as happy as the littles. How could Hyungwon get mad at that?

They continued to pour the ingredients, and the littles took turns mixing the dough, with a helping hand from Hyungwon at the end, to make sure they didn’t end up with a disaster instead of cookie dough. A few times they had to stop the boys from eating it, before Hoseok promised to let them eat what was left on the bowl when they finished making the cookies, if they stopped eating while they were making it.

Soon, their dough was done. Kihyun had more flour on him then the dough, and Minhyuk had used his clothes to clean his hands whenever he got something on them. Hyungwon sighed, but there was a smile on his face. It was impossible not to smile, when both boys looked so proud.

“Appa, we cut them?”

Hoseok chuckled, ruffling Kihyun’s hair – which caused a lot of flour to fly around – and nodding.

“Yes, bug, now we cut them. But first we need to spread the dough, ok?”

Kihyun nodded, although Hyungwon was pretty sure he didn’t know what Hoseok meant. The older boy grabbed the dough and put it on the counter and Hyungwon pulled Kihyun back slightly, so they’d have space. Quickly, Hoseok rolled out the dough. He let each boy have a go, and then Hyungwon too, because Minhyuk insisted that Hyungwon would be sad if he didn’t have a go. And then, from one of the drawers, Hoseok produced a bag of cookie cutters.

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow and Hoseok smiled.

“Where did you even get those?”

Hyungwon asked, as Hoseok spread the Christmassy cookie cutters. Hoseok laughed.

“I ordered them. I’ve been wanting to bake with the littles, and I wanted to make it fun.”

Hyungwon couldn’t help but to smile. Hoseok was too good for this world.

“Appa! Kiyunnie want the wein... weind… that!”

Hyungwon and Hoseok looked at what Kihyun was pointing and laughed at the boy’s adorableness. Minhyuk picked up the reindeer cookie cutter and handed it to the younger boy.

“It’s reindeer, Kihyunnie. Rein-deer.”

Kihyun frowned, concentrating.

“Wein-d-deew.”

Minhyuk laughed and nodded.

“Very good, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun beamed proudly and Hyungwon wondered if Hoseok wanted to squish those two as much as he did.

“Ok, choose a cutter, Minmin, and then we can start!”

Hyungwon hadn’t expected the cutting to be that much of a mess. The boys cut anywhere they wanted, sometimes cutting over other cuts. But they were laughing and having fun, and that was the point, after all, so it was ok.

It took them longer to finish cutting than it had taken to actually make the dough, but by the end Kihyun had a big smile on his face, cheeks red from laughing and eyes twinkling, and Minhyuk seemed so at ease and so proud that it made Hyungwon’s heart melt. They put the cookies on the oven and set the alarm, and then turned to the counter. Hyungwon chuckled. It was a mess.

 

Hoseok left Hyungwon to deal with the mess on the counter and the floor and went to the bathroom to try and clean the boy’s up slightly. Bathing them wasn’t worth it, because they still had to decorate the cookies, and that would be another mess, but at least it would be good if Kihyun wasn’t leaving a trail of flour everywhere he went.

The older came back with the littles just as Hyungwon had finished cleaning everything and left the two by the table, playing with each other as he started doing the dishes.

“Hey. Thank you, Hyungwonnie.”

Hyungwon tilted his head, leaning against the counter so he could stay with Hoseok and still keep an eye on the two littles.

“What for, hyung?”

“For helping me with the baking. I know it was tiring and a lot of work.”

Hyungwon shook his head, smiling.

“I’d do anything to see them smiling like that, hyung. Plus…” Hyungwon wondered if he should. He looked down. “Plus, I got to spend time with you.”

He glanced at Hoseok, seeing a surprised expression on the older’s face and a faint blush on his cheeks. He chuckled.

“I… uhn…”

Hyungwon laughed.

“So articulate.”

He teased. Hoseok shoved him.

“Shut up! I wasn’t expecting that.”

His voice was accusing, but there was a little pleased smile on his face. Hyungwon was about to say something when the timer rang, startling both of them. Minhyuk and Kihyun both squealed.

“They’re ready!”

Said Minhyuk, getting up and helping Kihyun up. Hyungwon smiled. He turned to Hoseok and pressed a quick kiss to corner of his mouth.

“We can talk later.”

And moved to take the cookies out, leaving behind a flustered Hoseok.

 

It was a bit of a drama to convince the boys – mostly Minhyuk – to wait for the cookies to cool down. But they managed, and soon they were watching Paw patrol together.

Once the cookies did cool down, Hoseok took out everything they might need for decorating. He placed everything on the counter and placed the cookies on a tray next to the decoration items. And the mess began again.

Hyungwon couldn’t help but to laugh as he watched the boys. Kihyun had made a Christmas tree with eyes, and a reindeer with pink antlers. Minhyuk was working hard and had painted a star with all the colours of the rainbow. It was adorable.

Him and Hoseok made some cookies, too, while watching the boys. Hyungwon was in the middle of decoration a round cookie as a bauble when Kihyun nudged Minhyuk.

“Minmin, help Kiyunnie?”

Hyungwon glanced at Hoseok. The older shrugged. Minhyuk immediately left his cookie, turning his full attention to Kihyun. Hyungwon laughed. The way little Minhyuk cared for little Kihyun was the most adorable thing ever.

Kihyun whispered something on Minhyuk’s ear and the older squealed, glancing at Hyungwon and Hoseok before laughing. Hyungwon was curious now. The two boys made a barrier around a heart shaped cookie and started working. Hyungwon watched them for a while, before going back to his own masterpiece.

After a while, he felt someone poking him. He looked up from his cookie and was faced with the two littles beaming at him. Hoseok, by his side, seemed as confused as him.

“We made a present for you!”

Explained Minhyuk. Kihyun nodded eagerly.

“Minmin helped Kiyunnie!”

Minhyuk smiled proudly. And then he took his hand from his back and presented a cookie. It was the heart shaped cookie, which now had a mess of colours and in the middle, barely understandable, Minhyuk’s handwriting in icing. It read ‘we love you’, and Hyungwon heart felt like it might burst. Hoseok took the cookie carefully.

“Babies, this is so beautiful!”

He exclaimed. Hyungwon could only nod.

“We love you two, too.”

He said, hugging both littles. The boys laughed and hugged Hyungwon back.

 

When the others got home, there was a mountain of weirdly decorated cookies on the counter, and Kihyun was asleep on the couch, with his pacifier and his bunny. Minhyuk was by his side, caressing his hair and watching cartoons, munching on some of the cookies. Both boys were showered and dressed in comfy clothes.

“You baked?”

Changkyun sounded incredulous. Hyungwon and Hoseok chuckled.

“We did.”

Answered Hoseok, smiling. Minhyuk seemed to notice them and smiled.

“Hyun!”

He whisper-shouted, making grabby hands at Hyunwoo. The leader laughed and made his way to the little.

“I’m impressed.”

Jooheon said. Hyungwon shrugged

“It was easy.”

Hoseok snorted.

“Yeah, a piece of cake.”

Jooheon and Changkyun exchanged a glance as the other two laughed as if they’d told the best joke ever.

“Well, I’m glad you had fun.”

Said the maknae, heading to his room to put his things away as Jooheon headed to the kitchen. Hyungwon smiled at Hoseok. The older gave him a little peck on the lips.

“Yeah. It was fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you guys like a Q&A chapter where you can ask questions to the members?


	18. Fansign

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Kihyun during a fan sign and caregiver Jooheon <33
> 
> (KawaiiTrash, yes, this was inspired by that pic you showed me hahahaha)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (@KawaiiTrash, yes, this was inspired by that pic you showed me hahahaha)

Kihyun knew he should tell the others. In his list of rules, one of the most important ones was to tell at least one of the others when he was feeling little, or felt like he might fall into head space. But he had always had difficulty with this rule. He was often embarrassed to admit that he was feeling the need to be little, and most of the time the others just picked up on it before he got the courage to say anything.

The problem, though, was that on that day they absolutely didn’t have time to pay attention to that. Their day was packed. They had a fan meeting in the afternoon. This meant that they were woken up extra early to go to the place where the event would be, to be told about the rules and all of that. Then they had a few hours to practice, before they were taken to the hairdresser, where they stayed for a long time, before heading back to the event venue.

Among this chaos, with everyone running around and the others focused on their own things, Kihyun had begun to feel anxious. It wasn’t rare for him to feel anxious before fan meetings. It wasn’t as stressful as concerts, but it was still a source of stress. And tired as he was from how packed their schedule had been recently, it didn’t take long for Kihyun to begin feeling little.

They were at the hairdresser when he noticed his thumb was wandering dangerously close to his mouth. He blushed, closing his hands into fists and resting them on his lap. He glanced around, but everyone was too busy to notice him. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or worried.

After a while, he began to feel sleepy. On normal days, he wouldn’t hesitate to take a nap while he waited for his hair to be done. But he knew he couldn’t sleep at the moment, not when he’d almost started sucking on his thumb in front of everyone while awake. So he did what he could to keep awake, from pinching himself to holding his breath.

He was in the middle of holding his breath when someone approached him. he turned to his side and smiled as Changkyun stopped by his side.

“Hey.”

He greeted. Changkyun smiled at him.

“Hey, hyung. How are you doing? You look tired. Don’t you want to take a nap? I can wake you up in a while.”

Kihyun felt his cheeks reddening and bit his lip. This was bad, really bad. One of the things that put Kihyun in little space the most was others babying him. Specially Changkyun, which made the situation even worse. He quickly shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I’m ok.”

Changkyun shrugged.

“Ok, then have you eaten? Want me to get you something?”

By now, Kihyun was frustrated.

“I’m good, Changkyun.”

He knew his tone was too harsh, specially when the younger was just trying to be nice, but at the moment he didn’t really care. He could feel himself starting to slip, and he couldn’t. Not when they had a fansign in just about an hour.

 

When they got to the venue, Kihyun decided that he had to tell someone. On a normal day, someone would already have noticed the signs. Kihyun was being grumpy and he was clearly restless. He’d refused to eat or drink everything the others had offered, crossing his arms like a toddler. They should have noticed. But they were all too busy and focused on the event and rules to really pay attention to Kihyun, and the only choice the boy had left was to actually tell someone.

He was looking for either Hoseok or Changkyun, when a staff spotted him, her eyes widening as she ran towards him. And then it was a blur of people running around, makeup and hair stylists finalizing their work, shouted rules and Kihyun was being shoved forward along with the others, and then they were on stage.

For a second, Kihyun couldn’t breath. He wanted to run back inside and curl up with his stuffed bunny and pacifier and to fall asleep on Changkyun’s arms. And then he fully processed the situation and forced a smile on his face. ‘It’ll be ok’, he told himself. It was their fans. He loved their fans. He could do this for them.

 

He couldn’t do this. Half of the fans had already had their turn, and Kihyun was doing his best to not slip. But every fan that came brought a cute gift, or was wearing cute headbands, and Kihyun just wanted to snuggle with every stuffed toy he got, play with every bubble gun he got and wear all of those headbands, and ask his caregivers if he looked cute in them.  
He knew he couldn’t, and he tried to convince himself that soon it would be over, but…

“Kihyun-sii?”

Kihyun startled, smiling when he noticed the new fan in front of him. He did his best to avoid looking at the rabbit ears she was wearing.

“Hey.”

He greeted. He knew he should say something else, but most of his attention had been taken by the item on the girl’s hand. The fan chuckled.

“Hello. I brought you something, can I take a picture of you with it?”

Kihyun gulped. ‘Please don’t be what I’m thinking it is.’ He prayed inside of his head. On the outside, he smiled.

“Sure.”

The girl’s smile widened and she lifted a toy pacifier, giving it to Kihyun. The boy gulped. From the corner of his eye, he could see Changkyun, who was by his side, looking at him. But he couldn’t refuse. What excuse would he give? He took the pacifier.

It wasn’t even a real pacifier. It was a toy, and it felt so different from the ones Kihyun had. But the boy was already so close from the edge, that this was more than enough to get him into headspace. He smiled around the pacifier and the fan squealed, startling him.

“Omo, you look so adorable!”

At the compliment, Kihyun’s smile widened and he giggled. The fan took his picture and bowed to him, moving to the next member, still squealing over how cute Kihyun was. He was waiting for the next fan when he felt someone’s eyes on him. He turned, spotting Changkyun.

Kihyun smiled and the younger smiled back, but he motioned towards Kihyun’s pacifier. The older went cross-eyed trying to look at the item, then tilted his head at Changkyun. The maknae sighed. Then he got up, knowing the fans wouldn’t find it weird or mind if he play-fought with Kihyun. He headed towards the older and tickled him, making Kihyun laugh. He used this opportunity to talk to the older.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, you have to pretend be grown up for a little while, ok? You need to talk to the fans. Can you do that for me?”

Kihyun nodded eagerly. He then took out the pacifier and Changkyun smiled, nodding. Kihyun smiled back.

 

Kihyun wanted to make his daddy proud. So he watched the boy for a while, trying to imitate him. It wasn’t too hard. He smiled at the girls and said hello and they were already squealing, so he thought he was doing a pretty good job. Plus, they brought presents! He got lots of stuffies, and candy, and toys! Those girls were really nice.

“Hey, Kihyun-sii.” Kihyun giggled. He’d giggled every time someone called him ‘Kihyun-ssi’. “I brought you a present.”

Kihyun smiled, clapping. The fan seemed a bit confused at his behaviour, but didn’t stop smiling, mumbling something about him being cute. ‘No clapping’, he told himself. Then the girl took a stuffed hamster from her bag and handed it to Kihyun.

A stuffed hamster! Kihyun quickly took it, remembering at the last second to thank the girl. She laughed and called him cute again, then moved on. Kihyun couldn’t take his eyes from the stuffie. The next girl stopped in front of him. Kihyun turned to her.

“Look! A hamster!”

He glanced at his daddy when he said it, wondering if it was ok that he’d said a word he didn’t know how to pronounce. Changkyun only smiled. Kihyun turned back to the girl, who was laughing.

“Yes, it’s a hamster. It looks like you!”

Kihyun looked at the hamster and giggled.

 

By the end of the fansign, Kihyun was almost asleep. Changkyun held his hand under the table for the fifteen or so last fans, keeping the boy from slipping his thumb on his mouth. Not that he thought the fans would care. They seemed to love this side of Kihyun, squealing at how adorable he was. But he knew that if he let the boy suck on his thumb, a lot of people would have a problem with it, so he didn’t.

When the last fan finally finished, they got up and talked a bit, before bowing and hurrying outside. They had all been warned about Kihyun being in little space, so they wanted to leave as soon as possible. Once they were in their dressing room and alone, Changkyun turned to Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie?” Kihyun looked at him, confused. “Hey, baby, you don’t have to pretend anymore. Come here, give daddy a hug.”

Kihyun squealed, and despite his sleepiness he hurried to Changkyun, letting the boy pick him up.

“Kiyunnie doed a good job?”

Changkyun laughed.

“Yes, baby, you did a great job. You were perfect.”

Kihyun smiled and nuzzled his nose against Changkyun’s neck. The others watched the scene, smiling. They couldn’t wait to play with their little.

 

Kihyun fell asleep on the drive home. Usually the others didn’t let the boy suck on his thumb, but since they didn’t have his pacifier and the boy had had a stressful day, they decided they could make an exception. He was also hugging the stuffed hamster one of the fans had given him. It had taken a bit of convincing, but the staffs had agreed to let him keep it, instead of putting it with the rest.

When they got to the dorm, Changkyun attempted to carry Kihyun inside, but the little woke up before he could walk much.

“Daddy?”

Changkyun looked at the boy in his arms, surprised. He’d expected Kihyun to sleep through to the next day. The others went ahead, not noticing the interaction.

“Hey, baby. Did you sleep well?”

Kihyun nodded, wiggling closer to Changkyun. The maknae resumed walking to the dorm

“Kiyunnie sleeped well.”

Changkyun chuckled. He found Kihyun’s speech difficulties the cutest thing ever, along with his little lisp.

“That’s good, baby. Are you still sleepy?”

Kihyun seemed to think for a while before shaking his head.

“No sleepy. Pway?”

Changkyun nodded.

“Sure, baby, we can play.”

He opened the door to the dorm with a bit of difficulty. He was about to call someone to help him when Jooheon noticed him struggling. The older rapper rushed towards them.

“Hey, bug. You’re awake?”

Kihyun looked at Changkyun, who gestured towards Jooheon. The little looked at the rapper and nodded shyly, before hiding his face on Changkyun’s chest. The other two laughed silently. Kihyun was still a bit shy around Jooheon and Hyunwoo, and shy Kihyun was too cute to handle.

“Baby, why don’t you go with Honey? I’ll be with you in a second.”

Kihyun looked at the boy and pouted, but extended his arms to Jooheon. The boy smiled cheerily and picked the little up, taking him to the living room so Changkyun could take off his shoes.

“Hey, bug, what do you say we get you on some more comfortable clothes?”

Kihyun looked at Jooheon and shook his head, blushing. Jooheon chuckled.

“Ok, and what if appa helps you?”

Hoseok looked up at that and smiled when he noticed Kihyun. The little hesitated, but then nodded.

“Appa?”

He asked, making grabby hands. Hoseok smiled fondly and got up, picking up the boy and taking him to his room.

When they got back, only Jooheon and Hyungwon were on the living room. According to Jooheon, Hyunwoo and Minhyuk had entered the older’s room and hadn’t come out and Changkyun was in the kitchen, making something for them to eat.

“Kiyunnie eat?”

Kihyun’s tone was hopeful, making them notice that the little was probably starving, not having eaten much that day. Hoseok put the boy on the sofa, between Jooheon and Hyungwon.

“Sure, baby, appa will go make you something. Stay with Honey and Wonwon, ok?”

Kihyun’s eyes flickered to the two boys by his side, and all of them could tell he was uneasy, but the little didn’t complain. He just nodded and let Hoseok go. It was amazing how different from little Minhyuk he was. (Not that it made any difference, they loved them both.)

Once Hoseok was gone, Hyungwon shuffled closer to the boy.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, who’s that in your hand? Did you get Flopsy a friend?”

Kihyun looked at Hyungwon, then at his own hand, a shy smile appearing in his face. Hyungwon gave himself a mental pat on the back.

“This is Bomi. She Kiyunnie and Flopsy new fwiend.”

He raised his hand, showing Hyungwon the toy hamster.

“Ah, hello, Bomi, nice to meet you.”

Kihyun laughed and turned to Jooheon, before shyly showing the hamster to him too. Jooheon made a show of bowing to the hamster, making Kihyun giggle.

“Nice to meet you, Bomi. You’re really luck, Kihyunnie is a great friend.”

Kihyun squealed and hid his face on his hands, but he was smiling at the comment.

“And Flopsy too!”

Added Kihyun. Jooheon laughed.

“Yes, Flopsy too.”

 

The three of them ended up playing with the stuffed toys. Kihyun lent Flopsy to Hyungwon and stayed with Bomi. Then, scared the Jooheon might feel left out, he sat on the boy’s lap, snuggling close to him as they played. Hyungwon wished he’d taken a photo of Jooheon’s face on that moment.

They were choreographing a dance routine for the stuffed animals when Changkyun and Hoseok walked in. The older was carrying a pot and Changkyun was carrying four bowls and Kihyun’s plastic plate. As soon as he saw the food, Kihyun jumped up, clapping excitedly. The other boys chuckled.

“Hey, baby, are you hungry?”

Asked Hoseok, kneeling next to Kihyun to put the pot on the table and talk to the boy. Kihyun nodded eagerly.

“Kiyunnie veeeeeewy hungwy.”

The boy prolonged the ‘e’ in very with all of his breath, making Hoseok laugh and ruffle his hair.

“That’s good, cause there’s a loooot of food.”

He said, getting up and letting Changkyun put the rest of the things on the table. They went back into the kitchen and came back with glasses and soda – except for Kihyun, who would be having juice – and Kihyun’s sippy cup, which was already filled.

Once everything was on the table, the four boys settled around it. But Kihyun didn’t sit down, looking at them, seeming to think about something. Hoseok noticed that and scooted back, patting his lap.

“You can sit here if you want, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun eyed him, but shook his head. His cheeks reddened and he kneeled next to Hoseok, whispering on the older’s ear. Hoseok raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Ok, baby, I’ll ask him. Jooheonie, Kihyunnie is asking if he can sit with you to eat.”

Jooheon looked surprised – all of them were, really –, but quickly nodded, a smile taking his face as he scooted back. Kihyun shyly made his way towards the rapper and sat down on his lap. Jooheon seemed to be on heaven.

“Alright, now let’s eat, before this goes cold.”

The others didn’t need to be told twice and Changkyun opened the pot to start serving the others.

Kihyun insisted on making his own plate, but he let Jooheon help, which prevented a gigantic mess from happening. Then he made himself comfortable on the rapper’s lap and opened his mouth. Jooheon laughed. He was ecstatic at the fact that Kihyun seemed to have warmed up to him, and he didn’t mind taking longer to eat because he was feeding the little.

He fed Kihyun, who munched happily on his food, and ate his own dinner while the other chewed or drank from his sippy cup. When the two of them finished, the others were already cleaning up, but Jooheon didn’t mind. Not when Kihyun was sleepily snuggling against him. Hoseok entered the room and smiled at the scene.

“Jooheonie, can you help him brush his teeth?”

Jooheon nodded and Hoseok thanked him, taking the remaining dishes to the kitchen.

“Kihyunnie. C’mon, let’s brush those teeth so we can get ready for bed, yeah?”

Kihyun whined and turned around, wrapping his arms around Jooheon. The rapper smiled and carefully got up, lifting the boy and holding him close. He took Kihyun to the bathroom and helped him brush his teeth and wash his face. At some point, Changkyun entered the room and handed him Kihyun’s pyjamas and pacifier, as well as his stuffed toys.

Jooheon nodded at the maknae and went back to helping the little. Once he was done, he took a look at the clothes. He wondered if Kihyun would let him change him, or if he would have to call one of the others. Carefully, pulled the boy closer.

“Kihyunnie, lift your arms for me, bug.”

Surprisingly, Kihyun obeyed. Jooheon took off his shirt, then his pants and quickly dressed the boy in his onesie, noticing the little was feeling uneasy. Once he was done, he put the pacifier on Kihyun’s mouth and handed him his stuffed toys, before picking him up.

He was walking to Kihyun’s room when Changkyun passed him and smiled.

“He seems to like you a lot.”

Said the maknae. Jooheon smiled.

“Yeah, he does.”

Changkyun hummed at the fondness on the boy’s voice.

“Go put him to bed. Goodnight, Jooheonie.”

Jooheon bid him goodnight and took Kihyun to his room. He put the already sleeping boy on his bed and brushed Kihyun’s bangs back.

“Goodnight, baby. Love you.”

Kihyun pulled his toys closer to his chest and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll ask again here, to know if there are more people interested, so, would you guys like a Q&A chapter where you can ask questions to the members?
> 
> (Thank you, giovanayay, for answering last chapter ^.^)


	19. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me apologizing for going MIA on you guys >.<  
> At the end I'll talk a bit about the Q&A, for people interested!

Kihyun groaned as he scrolled down, looking at the pictures the fans had taken at the fansign. He had apologized profusely to the members for slipping during the event. They had warned him to tell one of them when he felt like he might slip in public, but reassured him that nothing bad had happened. Apparently, the fans just thought he was acting extra cute and loved it.

Kihyun, on the other hand… didn’t love it so much. He blushed as he looked of the pictures of him playing with the toys fans gave him. He knew that an outsider wouldn’t see much difference between those photos and the ones in which he played just to please the fans, but he could see it clear as day, and it embarrassed him to no end.

There were pictures of him in headbands, posing cutely, him hugging stuffed toys, and… and the ones embarrassed Kihyun the most, the photos of him with the pacifier in his mouth. He sighed, closing the tab. The others were always telling him that it was ok to be like this, and he tried to believe them, he believed them most of the time. But when things like this happened, he wondered if it was really ok.

“Hyung?” Changkyun’s voice interrupted Kihyun’s mental breakdown. “We have to go in ten minutes, are you ready?”

Kihyun nodded at the boy.

“I’ll be out in a second.”

Changkyun nodded and closed the door again. Kihyun sighed. He had been feeling unwell, since he woke up. He stayed as long as he could in bed, hoping that he would get better. It hadn’t worked. He got up, sighing as he felt his head starting to hurt slightly. His stomach churned. He took a deep breath. They had practice, he couldn’t skip that.

 

Hyunwoo frowned. They had gotten to the company one hour and a half ago, and had spent a good forty-five minutes stretching before the actual practice started. It was tiring, obviously, but Kihyun looked as if he’d been practicing for hours already.

The leader decided to give them a break. He confirmed his suspicions when everyone looked at him completely confused – they’d only started practicing forty-five minutes ago, after all – and Kihyun simply sighed in relief and sat down by the mirror. Hyunwoo approached Hoseok.

“Hey. Do you think Ki is acting weird?”

To his surprise, Hoseok nodded.

“I was going to talk to you about it. He seems kind of down?”

Hyunwoo hummed. It wasn’t quite that, but he couldn’t place what it was, and that was the best shot yet.

“Do you think he’s upset about the fansign still?” Hoseok shrugged. Both boys sighed, turning to watch Kihyun. The boy was slumped against the mirror, eyes closed. “Well, I’ll resume practice. Keep an eye on him.”

Hoseok nodded and Hyunwoo clapped, calling the others back.

They practiced for an hour longer, before Hoseok asked for a break. This time, no one found it weird. All of them had noticed that Kihyun was acting differently, and guessed what the break was about. As soon as Hyunwoo allowed them to rest, Kihyun sat on the floor. Not on a corner or against a wall. He just sat down, where he was and closed his eyes. Hyunwoo looked at Hoseok.

“I think he is sick.”

Hyunwoo frowned at Hoseok’s words.

“Why do you think that?”

Hoseok motioned towards the boy. Hyunwoo looked.

“His movements are slow and sloppy and he began shivering about five minutes ago.” Indeed, Kihyun’s form was shaking slightly where he was curled up on the floor. “His cheeks are super red, though, and the rest of his body is really pale. I think he has a fever.”

At this point, the others had joined the two eldest.

“A fever?”

Asked Changkyun. Hoseok nodded.

“I’m not sure, though. It’s just a guess.”

Changkyun bit on his lip.

“I’ll check.” The others watched as the maknae approached his boyfriend. “Ki hyung?”

Kihyun looked up, frowning, as if he was in pain.

“Kyun? Do you need something?”

Changkyun hesitated.

“Are you feeling alright, hyung?”

Kihyun blinked at him and didn’t reply for a second. Then he cleared his throat and uncurled himself.

“Yeah, I’m good. Why?”

Changkyun raised an eyebrow. Then, without warning, he reached forward and pushed Kihyun’s bangs back to check his temperature.

Kihyun took two seconds to react and shove Changkyun away with an annoyed ‘Yah!’ but it was enough for Changkyun to feel that the boy’s temperature was way too high.

“Hyung, you have a fever. Why didn’t you tell us you weren’t feeling well?”

At this, something seemed to click inside of Kihyun, and a second later his lower lip was wobbling. Changkyun’s eyes widened and he quickly reached towards the boy, holding him and standing up.

“Daddy~”

Kihyun’s whine was so weak it broke Changkyun’s heart.

“Shh, baby, it’s ok. Daddy is here, don’t worry.”

Kihyun sniffed against Changkyun’s shoulder, but calmed down a bit. The maknae turned towards the others. Hyunwoo shrugged.

“I guess that’s it for today’s practice. Let’s go home.”

 

Kihyun fell asleep on the ride to the dorm. The others wrapped him up in three coats and Hyungwon volunteered to let Kihyun sit on his lap during the trip, and after a few minutes the boy was out like a light against the younger singer.

“He definitely has a fever. It isn’t too bad, but he’s a bit hot. I think he has a stuffy nose, too, he keeps sniffing.”

The others nodded as Hoseok told them what he thought. As if to prove him right, Kihyun chose that moment to sniff and whine, opening his mouth around his thumb.

“He’s breathing through his mouth.”

Explained Hyungwon. The others sighed in unison. So Kihyun was sick. And little. That would be fun.

They arrived at the dorm quickly and Hyungwon let Hoseok take the sleeping little up the stairs. Soon, all of them were settled on the living room, waiting for Hoseok and Kihyun to get ready so they could watch a movie while they waited for the little to wake up.

The two remaining boys walked in – well, Hoseok walked, Kihyun was still asleep on the boy’s lap – Kihyun now dressed on some warm pyjamas, sucking on his pacifier seeming more relaxed. Hoseok handed the boy to Changkyun, who was in the middle, and snuggled close to Hyungwon. Hyunwoo started the movie.

They were halfway through when Kihyun started stirring. Changkyun ran a hand through the boy’s hair, attempting to calm him down. It didn’t work much. The little continued to whine and soon he was opening his eyes and blearily looking around. As soon as he spotted Changkyun he pouted.

“Daddy, huwts.”

It was hard to understand him, his normal lisp mixed with the mumbling caused by the pacifier, but Changkyun managed. He sat up straighter, pulling the boy up too.

“What hurts, Kihyunnie?”

Kihyun sniffed, eyes filling with tears.

“Head. A-and tummy. And Kiyunnie nose weird.”

A tear fell down Kihyun’s face and Changkyun pulled the boy closer, shushing him.

“Oh, it’s ok, baby. We’ll give you some medicine and you’ll be better in a second.”

At that, Hoseok got up to search for their cold medicine. Kihyun groaned.

“No medicine.”

Changkyun sighed. They should have expected this.

“It will make it stop hurting, baby. You have to take it.”

Kihyun crossed his arms and shook his head stubbornly.

“Kiyunnie no take it.”

Changkyun looked at the others for help. Jooheon shrugged and Minhyuk shook his head, apologetic. Hyunwoo and Hyungwon weren’t much help either. Changkyun was about to speak again when Hoseok approached, medicine in hand. He motioned for Changkyun to give him space.

The maknae sat Kihyun down on the couch and let Hoseok take his place.

“Kihyunnie, can you give me your pacifier? It’s just for a second.”

Kihyun shook his head. Hoseok’s expression became stern.

“Kihyunnie. Give it to me right now.”

Changkyun thought the boy would argue. Minhyuk would have argued. But Kihyun was probably feeling too bad to argue at the moment. He simply pouted and glared, but gave Hoseok the pacifier. Hoseok smiled.

“You’re such a good boy, pumpkin. Thank you.” Kihyun sniffed and continued to pout, but the compliment seemed to please him. “Now open up. I’ve got this magic potion that will make you feel better. You just have to take it, and soon you’ll be feeling a lot better, ok?”

Kihyun didn’t seem too convinced. He eyed the medicine for a while, but then opened his mouth. Changkyun smiled. Hoseok was good. Kihyun swallowed the meds and grimaced.

“Appa~ taste bad.”

Hoseok cooed at the boy.

“Own, I know, baby. But now you’ll get better, so you can play with appa and the others quicker. And since you’ve been such a good boy, you can have this back.”

Kihyun smiled a little at the sight of his pacifier, opening his mouth and happily sucking on it as Hoseok gave it to him.

“Thank you, appa.”

His eyes were already drooping again, and the others watched with smiles on their faces as the little went back to sleep. Hoseok smiled.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad.”

 

Hoseok spoke too soon. When Kihyun woke up again, he was feeling better. But he still felt bad, and now he was also grumpy. Changkyun didn’t know how much more he could handle.

“Baby, you have to eat, otherwise you won’t get better.”

The others had left, leaving him alone to deal with the little. Changkyun was trying hard to be gentle and understand that Kihyun felt bad and didn’t know – in this headspace – how to deal with that. But he was really close to throttling the boy.

“No!” Changkyun cringed as the boy yelled in his face. “Kiyunnie no eat!”

Changkyun groaned.

“Kihyun. You have to eat. If you don’t…”

But Kihyun had had enough. He reached forward and hit the edge of his plate, making it turn upside down, spilling all of the food. Changkyun stared for a second. Could he punish the little while he was sick? He didn’t think so.

“That’s it. I’m done with you. You’ve been a really bad boy, Kihyunnie.”

And, not wanting to do something he would regret, he left. Hyungwon and Hoseok, who had been listening to the ordeal, rushed to help. Hoseok went after the maknae and Hyungwon entered the kitchen. Kihyun was sitting by the table, crying his heart out. The younger rushed to the little.

“Hush, Kihyunnie, don’t cry. It’s ok, shh.” Kihyun continued to cry, but he let Hyungwon pick him up, clinging to the younger like a koala. “It’s ok, buddy. Your daddy is just worried because he wants you to get better, and you won’t get better if you don’t eat.”

Kihyun didn’t reply, but at least he was crying less. Hyungwon walked around, bouncing the boy. He was looking for something to clean the mess the little had made when he spotted something. An idea came to his mind.

Hyungwon made his way out of the kitchen, still carrying the little, and went looking for Hyunwoo. The leader and Minhyuk were on the older’s room, chatting, when Hyungwon entered. Immediately noticing the little, both boys got up, worried. Minhyuk was the first to talk.

“Hey, what happened? Is he ok?”

Hyungwon nodded.

“He’s ok. Just a bit upset. Could you come help me?”

 

Hyungwon sat on a chair by the table with Kihyun on his lap. Carefully, he disentangled the boy from him and turned Kihyun around.

“Kihyunnie, look what I have here.” He showed the boy the baby bottle he’d made with juice. Kihyun’s eyes widened and he reached forward. Hyungwon put the bottle away. “No, not yet, baby. First, why don’t you eat a little?”

And saying that he picked up a bit of baby food on a spoon and tried to feed it to the little. The baby food was something they’d gotten when Kihyun had fallen deeper into little space. They thought it would be a good idea, since the boy didn’t seem to like normal food when he was in that headspace. And at that moment, Hyungwon was glad for that idea. Because Kihyun easily opened his mouth and ate.

Hyungwon smiled at Minhyuk and Hyunwoo, who had helped him, and the other two smiled back, before leaving, making sure that everything was ok. Hyungwon continued to feed the boy, until there was nothing left and Kihyun was calmly resting against his chest. Hyungwon sighed, relieved.

“Such a good boy, Kihyunnie. I think you deserve a reward.”

He was about to give the boy his bottle when someone entered the kitchen. Hyungwon turned and spotted Changkyun.

“Hyung. Can I do it?” Hyungwon smiled at the maknae and nodded. Changkyun carefully picked the little up. Kihyun whined. “Hey, baby. Daddy is sorry. I was just sad because I wanted you to get better, and you can’t get better if you don’t eat. But it’s ok, now. Daddy is sorry.”

Kihyun only stared at the maknae, then shifted closer, making Changkyun smile, relieved. He grabbed the bottle and took it to Kihyun’s lips. The little drank happily.

 

After that it was easy. Kihyun drank all his juice and let Changkyun brush his teeth and change him into his sleepwear. Once the younger was done, the little was already asleep, and Changkyun put him to bed, pressing a kiss to his forehead before leaving the room. Outside, he thanked Hyungwon. The older smiled.

“It’s ok. I just had the idea, and we were lucky enough for it to work.”

Changkyun only laughed, and, exhausted, both boys wished each other goodnight and went to bed.

Lying in bed, Changkyun turned on his side to look at Kihyun’s sleeping form. He smiled. Taking care of little Kihyun definitely wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. But it was worth it. It was definitely worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, soon there will be a Q&A chapter. You guys can ask any of the members + little Kihyun and little Minhyuk! And feel free to ask me anything, if you want ^.^ you can ask as many questions as you want!
> 
> I'll post the Q&A when there is a good amount of questions, so it might take a while, but I'll post other chapters while I wait for questions!
> 
> Put your questions on the comments, I'll be waiting!


	20. Not A Chapter (For Kim Jonghyun)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: if you're triggered by talks about depression and suicide, don't read. If you're still not ready to read about Jonghyun, don't force yourself. Stay strong and stay safe.

Hello, everyone.

I know I promised I wouldn't go long without updating this story, but in light of what happened, I'm not sure when I'll post again. It might be a few days from now. It might be tomorrow. It might take a long time. I'm feeling really bad right now, which is why I'm awake at 4am, when I usually can't stay awake past 11pm, and I'm still not sure how I'll deal with this situation, so I don't know what will happen next.

I am writing this to explain to you in case I don't post for too long, and also to talk a bit, because I've always found it easier to expresses myself through text. And right now, I need to talk about this. As I said before, don't read if you're triggered by talks of depression and themes like this, or if you're not ready to read about Jonghyun yet. Take your time. Don't force yourself.

 

I think everyone knows, by now, that Shinee's Jonghyun committed suicide. When I first heard, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it, it's still sinking in that this is really happening.

Shinee was one of the first k-pop groups I liked. Jonghyun was my bias. This may sound superficial, but what I mean with this is that he was the one I treasured the most, among five people that I loved a lot. What I mean is that he was an important person in my life, someone I kept close to my heart, and that now is gone. Jonghyun was my bias; he was a beacon, he was the light shining in the dark, he was a source of much hope and happiness for me. This is what I mean.

For me, and I know a lot of people feel like this, Jonghyun was an inspiration. Amidst a sea of prejudice and silence, Jonghyun was one of the people who stood up and talked about things that were considered taboos. He was one of the few people who openly discussed themes such as mental health and LGBT rights. He was a light shining brightly in the dark, giving hope to people, speaking up for minorities. And now he is gone.

I know he will, forever, live in our hearts. He will be remembered, and I hope it's because of the things he achieved, the happiness he created. I know I'll always remember him, and I'll always keep him in my mind and in my heart. Jonghyun was a good person, and he was so strong. He fought hard, he fought one of the hardest wars a person can fight.

Yesterday was a day of grief, and I’m sure all of us will feel this loss for a very long time. Please stay strong, stay safe. You are not alone. If anyone wants to talk, I’m here. I’ll always listen.

To Shinee: My thoughts are with you. This is a hard time, something no one should have to face. I hope you stay together and find strength in each other. You lost a friend, a brother. This type of pain never goes away, but I hope one day you'll be able to look back and remember the good memories you had with Jonghyun.

To our shiny Jonghyun, our brightest star: you fought hard. You did well. It's sad to see you go this way, but you will forever we remembered and loved. You did well. Rest In Peace.


	21. Of Nightmares and Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kihyun has a nightmare and something is off with Minhyuk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm back. I started writing again recently (yesterday), and I'm still trying to get back into it, so the chapters may be a bit short for a while. I'm sorry for that :(  
> But I hope you like it!  
> Also, see the end notes!!!

Hoseok didn’t think much of it when he entered the living room and saw Hyunwoo watching TV with Minhyuk in his lap. Lately those two had gotten closer, spending as much time as they could together, and although Hyunwoo had denied when Hoseok asked, the boy knew that there was something stronger than friendship going on there.

So he didn’t find it weird to see the younger boy on the leader’s lap. That is, until Minhyuk giggled and attacked Hyunwoo with a toy car, using the older as a racetrack. Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

It wasn’t common for Minhyuk to go into little space. It happened when he was too stressed and sometimes when Kihyun fell into headspace and Minhyuk played with him after a tiring day. Other than that, it didn’t happen much. He wondered if he should ask whether or not anything had happened, but Minhyuk was absorbed in the play and Hyunwoo had this soft little smile on his lips, so Hoseok decided he could ask later.

Something else that was uncommon was… Minhyuk wasn’t really triggered by Kihyun going into little space. But it had never happened of Minhyuk being little and Kihyun not. Whenever the older boy began playing, Kihyun lasted about five minutes, before he was asking to join. So… where was Kihyun?

He was about to go looking when a giggling Kihyun entered the room running. Following him came a grunting Hyungwon, threatening to catch Kihyun and cook him for dinner. Hoseok laughed at the scene and both boys turned to him. Kihyun squealed and rushed to the older, hiding behind Hoseok. Hyungwon rushed towards them and stomped his feet. He threatened to get Kihyun when the boy least expected and left back to his room, laughing quietly.

Hoseok smiled fondly and turned around.

“Hey, baby boy. How are you?”

Kihyun lifted his arms and Hoseok picked him up. The boy snuggled against his chest.

“Hi, Appa. Missed you.”

Hoseok ruffled the boy’s hair.

“I missed you too, baby. Are you hungry? It’s almost time for dinner.”

Kihyun nodded eagerly.

“Kiyunnie help?”

Hoseok shuddered, but nodded. It couldn’t be too bad.

 

Once Kihyun and Hoseok entered the kitchen, Hyunwoo noticed Minhyuk staring after them.

“Hey, love, you wanna go with them?”

Minhyuk shook his head vehemently, clinging to Hyunwoo. The boy had been acting differently all day. He was way clingier than he usually was in little space, and he hadn’t wanted to play with Kihyun. They’d barely avoided a crisis, thanks to Hyungwon catching Kihyun’s attention and distracting the boy while Minhyuk played with Hyunwoo.

“Wanna stay with you, hyung.”

He mumbled. Hyunwoo patted his head.

“Hey, it’s ok. You can stay with me. What do you want to do now?”

Minhyuk bit his lip and shook his head. Then he lay on Hyunwoo and closed his eyes. A few minutes later he was asleep. Hyunwoo watched the boy, feeling their hearts beating together. There was definitely something going on. He’d have to ask Minhyuk about that later.

 

“Hey, guys, dinner is ready!”

Hyunwoo had never seen Minhyuk wake up so fast. The boy immediately got up, pulling the leader by the hand, and dragging him to the kitchen, from where Hoseok had called. The table was set, normal plates and cutlery for the six of them and Kihyun’s plastic things.

Once in the kitchen, Minhyuk waited for Hyunwoo to sit. Once the boy did, Minhyuk sat next to him, closer than necessary, and dragged his things closer. Hyunwoo didn’t question. He liked the idea that little Minhyuk wanted to be close to him.

The others slowly entered the kitchen, and Kihyun came carrying a small pot, carefully. Hyunwoo chuckled. Kihyun was way too cute in little space. Hoseok came behind the boy, carrying bigger pots, and soon they were all settled to eat.

Usually, Minhyuk made a point to eat on his own, because he was a ‘big boy’. Kihyun was content to let one of the others feed him, but Minhyuk didn’t like it. Except, Minhyuk didn’t start eating with the others. He stared at his plate and then turned to Hyunwoo. The leader looked back, in a loss of what to do.

Then Minhyuk opened his mouth and Hyunwoo got it. He shook his head, pushing the confusion back for later, and picked Minhyuk’s chopsticks up, feeding the boy. Minhyuk contentedly accepted the food and chewed happily. Kihyun, on the other side of the table, seemed pretty happy trying to feed himself. Not that it was working, he’d given up on his chopsticks and was eating with his hands. But all in all, it was a nice dinner.

 

After eating, everyone headed in their own directions. Jooheon and Hyungwon took it to themselves to entertain Kihyun and Hoseok and Changkyun decided to watch TV and let the others handle the little. Minhyuk had dragged Hyunwoo to play with him, but halfway through he’d given up, just sulking for a while, while the leader tried to understand what happened. Then the younger boy had admitted he no longer was in little space, and Hyunwoo had been the one to drag him away. They had to work some stuff out.

Kihyun, from his spot on the floor, watched the older go, before turning to Hyungwon.

“Minmin ok?”

Hyungwon ran a hand through the boy’s hair.

“He’s ok, baby. He just needs to talk to Hyunwoo.”

Kihyun turned to the hallway where the other two had headed, then shrugged. He focused back on the paper in front of him, choosing a new crayon and continuing his drawing.  
It didn’t take long after that for Kihyun to start yawning. Him, Hyungwon and Hoseok were the only ones left in the living room. Hyungwon noticed the little yawning and nudged Hoseok. The older turned to him, then nodded, understanding.

“Kihyunnie. I think it’s time to go to bed, baby boy.”

Kihyun pouted.

“Kiyunnie no sweepy.”

Hoseok hummed, getting up.

“Hum, I’m sure you’re not. But I’m very very tired, and Wonwon too.”

Kihyun looked at Hyungwon and the younger faked a yawn. The little sighed.

“But Kiyunnie want pway…”

Hoseok helped the boy stand up and picked him up. Kihyun immediately rested his head on the older’s shoulder, yawning again.

“We can play more tomorrow, ok?”

Kihyun nodded, already half asleep from the way Hoseok was softly bouncing him. Hyungwon got up.

“I’m gonna go to bed to, hyung.”

His voice was low, trying not to disturb Kihyun. Hoseok nodded and leaned in, pecking Hyungwon on the lips. He then headed to Kihyun’s room. Changkyun and Jooheon were already asleep, and Hoseok suspected Minhyuk was with Hyunwoo, still. He carefully lay Kihyun down, then quickly put some pyjamas on the boy, before slipping Kihyun under the covers and covering him.

He nudged Kihyun’s lips with one of the boy’s pacifiers and Kihyun immediately opened his mouth, taking the item and sucking on it, sighing contentedly. It was one of the things that amazed Hoseok the most, how much Kihyun loved having his pacifier. He also put the boy’s two stuffed animals by his side and kissed his forehead, leaving the room.

 

Changkyun was a light sleeper. Not super light. He didn’t usually wake up when someone entered or left the room he was in if they were quiet. But he was a light sleeper, and he was woken up by the noise of sheets rustling. He blinked, trying to get rid of the sleepiness. The room wasn’t too dark and he spotted Kihyun’s nightlight on the wall. So Kihyun was still feeling little when he went to bed.

And then he noticed the noise was coming from Kihyun’s bed. Immediately he sat up, apprehensive. He squinted. As much as the nightlight illuminated the room, it was still fairly dark. Changkyun hurried to put on his glasses, when he understood that besides the darkness there was his own bad eyesight in the equation and turned back to Kihyun.

The boy was tossing and turning, kicking his sheets and whining lowly. Changkyun didn’t know what to do. He’d read somewhere you shouldn’t wake up people having nightmares, but the sight of Kihyun struggling in his sleep was breaking his heart. He was about to stand up when Kihyun gasped, opening his eyes and sitting up. And then he started crying. Immediately, Changkyun stood up and rushed to the boy.

“Kihyunnie, hey, shh. It’s ok, daddy is here.”

Kihyun continued to cry, but clung to Changkyun.

“Daddy.”

He whined, crying. Changkyun didn’t know what to do, other then running a hand through the boy’s hair and shushing him. He picked up Kihyun’s pacifier, which had fallen from the boy’s mouth, and gave it to the little. It seemed to help a bit.

And then the room was filled with light and Changkyun had to blink several times, before spotting Jooheon by Kihyun’s bed.

“Hey, what happened?”

Asked the older rapper. Changkyun shrugged.

“I think Kihyunnie had a nightmare.”

Kihyun whimpered and pulled himself closer to Changkyun, until he was on the boy’s lap. Changkyun didn’t mind. He began bouncing the boy softly, and slowly Kihyun’s sobs started to die down. Jooheon sat next to them and ran his hand through the little’s hair.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Are you feeling better?”

Kihyun sniffed and shook his head.

“Kiyunnie scawed.”

Jooheon cooed and Changkyun hugged the boy tighter.

“It’s ok, baby. You don’t have to be scared anymore, daddy and Honey are here. Nothing can hurt you when we’re here.”

Kihyun looked up at him, eyes still teary. Then he held up his hand, only his pinky up.

“Pinky pwomise?”

Changkyun kept himself from laughing and hooked his pinky finger with Kihyun’s.

“Pinky promise.”

Kihyun made Jooheon promise too, then finally relaxed.

“Are you feeling better now, pumpkin?”

Asked the older rapper. Kihyun nodded against Changkyun’s chest, almost asleep. But when Jooheon ruffled his hair and made to get up, Kihyun held his wrist.

“No. Stay.” Jooheon’s heart melted and he sat back down. “Daddy, Honey, stay with Kiyunnie.”

The two other boys looked at each other, then at the bed.

“Uhn, I don’t think all of us will fit there, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun pouted.

“Pwetty pwease?”

Not wanting to make the boy upset just after he’d woken up from a bad dream, Changkyun nodded.

“Ok, wait a second.”

Then he passed the little to Jooheon and began moving, and as Jooheon and Kihyun watched, Changkyun extended all of their covers on the ground, until the whole room floor was a big bed. Kihyun clapped, excited, and Jooheon laughed. He let the little go and Kihyun giggled, throwing himself on the covers.

“Now Daddy and Honey sweep with Kiyunnie?”

Changkyun laughed and nodded.

“Yes, baby, we can sleep together now.”

And both rappers snuggled with the little in between them, smiling as Kihyun sighed and quickly went back to sleep, a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q&A CHAPTER: I'm still taking question, so please send them if you have any ^.^  
> You can ask any of the members, plus little Minhyuk and little Kihyun. Also, you can ask me questions!  
> Please, tell me who you want to answer your questions, something like "To little Minhyuk: what toys do you like playing with the most?"  
> Anyways, hope you liked the chapter


	22. Time Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another kinda short chapter. What else do you guys wanna see in this story? Tell me in the comments!

One thing that’s important to know about little Kihyun is: he’s an absolute angel. He has a lot of energy, yes, and he sometimes causes trouble. But not intentionally. It’s usually things like: he splashes too much during bath time and ends up soaking the bathroom, he tries to help cooking and makes a mess. Accidents. He is, in no stretch of the word, a brat. That’s Minhyuk’s job. Which doesn’t mean they don’t love little Minhyuk. They love him all the same, But he is 100% a brat.

Kihyun, on the other hand… he doesn’t throw tantrums, save for a few whines here and there when it’s naptime and he insists he isn’t sleepy. He almost never refuses to eat or talks back. He doesn’t demand that the others play with him, he asks and if they are busy he plays quietly on his own, until someone is free to play with him.

Which is exactly why everyone is at a complete loss of what to do right now. Because Kihyun is kicking and screaming and crying, and he even threw a plush toy at Minhyuk. And no one knows what to do or how to act. Until Changkyun decides it’s enough.

“Kihyun. Either you stop this right now or there will be consequences.”

His voice is stern and he half expects Kihyun to just stop, because this behaviour is completely uncharacteristic of him. Instead, the boy glares and throws a stuffed animal at Changkyun.

“Wanna pway!”

And that’s it. Changkyun grabs the boy’s arm, making Kihyun yelp, and makes him stand up. He then drags a screaming Kihyun to a corner of the room, while Hyungwon and Jooheon, the only ones still in the room, watch.

“That is enough, Kihyun. We tried to be nice, but you’ve been acting like a brat. And do you know what happens to brats? They get time outs! You’ll stay thinking about what you did wrong until I decide it’s enough. Don’t you dare move, or things will we worse. You’ve been a really bad boy, Kihyun.”

The little had gone silent while Changkyun talked, but as soon as the maknae stopped his eyes filled with tears and he began crying. It startled Changkyun, and for a second he considered giving the boy another chance, but he had to be firm. Otherwise Kihyun would think this kind of behaviour was acceptable. He made the boy face the wall and walked away. Half an hour should be enough.

 

“Kyun, I don’t think its working.” Said Hyungwon, after fifteen minutes. Kihyun was still in the corner, crying his heart out. “I mean, c’mon. He’s been crying since the second we put him in time out. And it’s not the same way he was crying before, either. Look, it sounds like he’s really upset about something.”

Changkyun massaged him temple. Hyungwon was right. Kihyun was crying non-stop, had been doing so since the moment Changkyun put him in time out. They had never used the punishment with the little before, because usually Kihyun was very well behaved. But they’d used it with Minhyuk and it had been effective. So what was different now?

Sighing, the maknae walked up to the crying boy.

“Kihyunnie.” He used a soft voice, trying a new approach with the little. Kihyun whimpered, stopping his sobs and flinching. Changkyun bit his lip, worried. “Kihyunnie, baby, I think you’ve been here long enough. Can you come with daddy?”

To his surprise, the boy shook his head vehemently.

“You don’t want to come?” The boy shook his head again. Changkyun turned to Hyungwon at a loss of what to do. The older seemed as confused as him. “I’ll be back in a second, baby.”

And saying that, the maknae left the room.

Hoseok was still working on his room, locked. Minhyuk and Hyunwoo were on the younger’s room and Jooheon was on the kitchen. Changkyun wanted to try Minhyuk, but Hyungwon suggested Hoseok.

“I think he’s the best option, right now.”

Changkyun thought of disagreeing, but he could see what Hyungwon meant, so they went after the older boy.

Once the situation was explained, Hoseok quickly agreed to follow the two younger boys. On the living room, Kihyun was still crying, but now silently. Hoseok frowned.

“How long has he been crying for?”

Changkyun looked down guiltily.

“Uhn, twenty minutes, I think.”

Hoseok shook his head, and then headed to the crying boy.

“Kihyunnie.” The boy immediately looked up. “Hey there, baby boy. Do you think you can come with appa? We need to talk.”

Kihyun hesitated. He glanced at Changkyun, who nodded, then sighed and turned around. Usually he would put his arms up, wanting to be picked up, but this time he simply looked down. Hoseok was beginning to think something was really wrong here.

He reached into his pocket and picked up Kihyun’s favourite pacifier, giving it to the boy. The younger resisted a bit, but that pacifier was their most powerful weapon, and soon the boy was sucking on it. Hoseok leaned down and picked the boy up. Kihyun needed comfort, but he clearly wasn’t going to ask for it, so it was their job to comfort him as well as they could.

He made his way to the couch and sat down, Kihyun on his lap.

“So, baby. I was told you were throwing a tantrum. You threw stuffed animals at Minmin and at your daddy and you screamed at everyone. Want to tell me about that?”  
Kihyun’s eyes immediately filled with tears.

“K-kiyunnie sowy, appa.”

Hoseok ran a hand through the boy’s hair.

“Ok, that’s good, baby. But appa wants to know why you did that.”

Kihyun shook his head.

“Kiyunnie bad boy.”

At that Hoseok flinched. He turned to Changkyun and Hyungwon, who were watching the scene. He raised an eyebrow and Changkyun sighed, raising his hand. Hoseok shook his head, turning back to Kihyun.

“Baby, you’re not a bad boy. You will never be a bad boy. You’re so, so good. We know you’d never be mean, unless there was something bothering. So you need to tell appa what happened, so we don’t let it happen again. Ok?”

Kihyun looked at Hoseok, eyes teary and frown in place. But he seemed calmer. He buried his face on Hoseok’s neck.

“No one pway with Kiyunnie.”

It came out so mumbled, from the pacifier, Hoseok’s neck and Kihyun’s natural lisp, that the older almost didn’t understand. Almost.

“No one played with Kihyunnie?”

He asked, to make sure. Kihyun nodded his head.

“Kiyunnie stay with appa all day, but appa busy. Then Kiyunnie pway awone, then daddy, Minmin, Hyuhyu, Wonwon and Honey come, but no one pway with Kiyunnie. A-and Kiyunnie awone and sad.”

Hoseok’s heart was absolutely broken. It was true. Him and Kihyun had spent the day together at the dorm, and Kihyun had been feeling little, but Hoseok had too much to do and had told the boy to play alone. He’d expected the others to play with the little when they got home, but apparently they hadn’t.

“Oh, Kihyunnie. Baby, daddy is so sorry. I should have paid more attention to you, baby, I’m sorry.”

Kihyun sniffed.

“But Kiyunnie bad boy.”

Hoseok shook his head.

“No, baby. You’re a good boy. We were bad, we should have taken better care of you.”

Kihyun seemed torn between believing it or not. He turned to Changkyun. The maknae took it as his cue and made his way to the sofa, sitting next to the duo there, Hyungwon following him.

“Seokie hyung is right, Kihyunnie. You’re a good boy, we were bad. Can you forgive daddy?”

Kihyun sniffed once more, but nodded. Changkyun smiled, pressing a kiss to the boy’s cheek and making a mental note to himself to never call Kihyun a bad boy again. He should tell the others too.

“I’m sorry too, Kihyunnie.” Said Hyungwon. “You just wanted to play, and we didn’t pay attention to you. I’m sorry.”

Kihyun nodded, quickly apologizing the boy. That was the little they knew.

“Hey, Kihyunnie, how about me, daddy and Wonwon play with you and Flopsy?”

Kihyun’s eyes lit up.

“C-can you?”

Hoseok nodded eagerly.

“Of course, baby. Let’s go.”

Kihyun giggled and got up, and the others came to a silent pact of never leaving Kihyun alone ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q&A CHAPTER: I'm still taking question, so please send them if you have any ^.^  
> You can ask any of the members, plus little Minhyuk and little Kihyun. Also, you can ask me questions!  
> Please, tell me who you want to answer your questions, something like "To little Minhyuk: what toys do you like playing with the most?"  
> Anyways, hope you liked the chapter


	23. Minhyuk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is Kihyun centric, but! This chapter is Minhyuk/Showhyuk centric!!
> 
> If there's anything else you guys wanna see in this story, tell me in the comments. I need ideas!!

Minhyuk had woken up feeling grumpy. He whined as he stretched, before sitting up and looking around. Everyone else in the room was still sleeping. He bit his lip. He wanted to go find Hyunwoo, but what if the older was still asleep? Maybe he should wait a little… but if he waited too much someone else would go up and snatch his pa… snatch Hyunwoo away from him, like it had been happening for days! After debating for a few more seconds, Minhyuk got up. He really wanted to cuddle with Hyunwoo.

 

“Hyung. Hyung. Hyunwoo hyung.”

Hyunwoo slowly opened his eyes, confused as to why someone was waking him up on break day. Then his eyes focused and he found Minhyuk standing by his bed, a pout on his lips.

“Minhyuk? Is everything ok? Do you need something?”

Minhyuk shuffled on his spot, playing with the hem of his shirt.

“Can… can we cuddle?”

The question was so simple and direct that it surprised Hyunwoo. He only took a few more seconds to understand that Minhyuk was little at the moment. He smiled at the boy, a bit awkward, but warm nonetheless, and lifted his covers. Minhyuk hurried to get in, cuddling close to the older’s chest. Hyunwoo put his arm around the boy and pulled Minhyuk closer.  
Soon, both boys were asleep once again.

 

When Hyunwoo woke up once again, now at a reasonable time for a free day, Minhyuk was already awake. He was still snuggled close to Hyunwoo, but his eyes were open and he was playing with his shirt’s sleeves. When he noticed Hyunwoo was awake he smiled.

“Morning, hyung.”

Hyunwoo smiled too.

“Morning, kitten. Let’s get up?”

Minhyuk seemed to think for a second, before shaking his head.

“Wanna cuddle with p… with hyung.”

It wasn’t a weird request. Minhyuk was a cuddly person. But little Minhyuk, despite what everyone thought, wasn’t that big on cuddles, insisting that he was a big boy and big boys didn’t cuddle. So this was a bit out of the ordinary. Not that Hyunwoo minded. He liked being around Minhyuk, whether the boy was little or not, and he wouldn’t pass up the chance to cuddle.

So he laughed and nodded. They could spend a little longer in bed.

And they did, until Hyunwoo’s stomach began growling. Minhyuk giggled at the sound and Hyunwoo laughed.

“Ah, I think I’m getting hungry. Can we get up to eat, kitten?”

Minhyuk nodded, quickly getting up and pulling Hyunwoo with him. They headed to the kitchen, where Kihyun and Jooheon were eating and sat down. Both boys eyed the way Minhyuk was clinging to the leader, but said nothing. Then Minhyuk started babbling about how they would play all day long and Jooheon noticed Kihyun biting his lip and looking down. He smiled. Minhyuk was in little space. And this meant that soon enough they’d have a little Kihyun as well.

Said and done, by the end of breakfast both boys were in little space, laughing and talking. Hyungwon had joined halfway through and was now helping Kihyun eat. Then, once they were all finished, Jooheon offered to clean everything and Hyunwoo got up.

“So, I heard someone talking about playing?”

Asked the leader. Both littles jumped up, but when Kihyun went to take Hyunwoo’s extended hand Minhyuk didn’t let him. He stopped I front of the leader and glared at the younger boy.

“No! Hyung will play with me, Kihyunnie! Only me!”

Kihyun’s eye widened from the scare of Minhyuk suddenly yelling, then his lower lip began to tremble, more because he was startled than anything else. Quickly, though, Hyungwon pulled the boy closer.

“Kihyunnie, do you hear that? I think I heard Flopsy and Bomi calling.”

Kihyun immediately looked at the other boy, going silent. Then he gasped.

“They awe! Huwy, Wonwon!”

And saying that he dragged Hyungwon out, leaving Hyunwoo and Minhyuk alone.

“What was that? You usually love playing with Kihyunnie.”

Asked Hyunwoo, once they were alone. Minhyuk looked down, guiltily.

“Wanted to play with you, papa.”

Hyunwoo would have asked more, but he was too taken aback by the new name. Not that he was complaining, he just didn’t expect it. He decided that he could question the boy later. For now, they had to play.

 

And play they did. All day long Hyunwoo entertained Minhyuk. They played with toy cars, coloring stuff, and even watched some cartoons. Hyunwoo could hear as Kihyun ran around the dorm with Hyungwon and sometimes Jooheon, and they only stopped a bit to have lunch, when Kihyun asked Minhyuk to play with him and got another no. This time around, he didn't care as much. Hyunwoo spent the day with Minhyuk playing around him and occasionally on his lap. It was how they were positioned when Hoseok came back from whatever he was doing out.

Hyunwoo heard Kihyun’s happy voice greeting Hoseok and the older saying he would make dinner and turned to the boy in his lap. He asked if Minhyuk wanted to join the others, but he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. The boy’s behaviour had been off all day. Why would it change now? As expected, Minhyuk refused. Hyunwoo noticed the boy was sleepy, and when Minhyuk rested his head on his chest, he knew the boy would soon be asleep.

When Hoseok called them for dinner, Minhyuk jumped up, making Hyunwoo laugh. The leader was then dragged to the kitchen, and soon they were all sitting around the table. Hyunwoo watched Minhyuk, waiting for the boy to start eating, when the boy turned to look at him. Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow. Then the younger opened his mouth and Hyunwoo’s eyebrows went even higher.

Carefully, the leader picked up Minhyuk’s chopsticks and took it to the boy’s mouth. And Minhyuk accepted it, eating gladly. Everyone seemed surprised at the scene, but no one said anything. Hyunwoo sighed. Him and Minhyuk would definitely have to talk later.

 

After dinner, Hyunwoo was once again dragged to the living room to play with toy cars. But Minhyuk didn’t seem too into it, and a few minutes after they started playing he leaned back, putting the cars down and sighing. Hyunwoo frowned.

“Hey. Are you ok, kitten?”

Minhyuk sighed.

“Yes, hyung.”

The fact that Minhyuk hadn’t called him ’papa’ like he’d been doing all day long was enough to tell the leader that Minhyuk was no longer feeling little. And this meant they had to talk.

“Ok. I think, uhn… I think we need to talk.”

Minhyuk nodded and got up, and they wished the others goodnight and headed to the leader’s room.

Once inside, Hyunwoo closed the door and made himself comfortable in his bed. He noticed Minhyuk still standing and gestured for the younger to sit too. Minhyuk did, but he was tense. Hyunwoo sighed.

“Ok. So. Care to explain… I don’t know, today?”

Minhyuk sighed.

“I’m sorry.”

He said, instead of explaining. Hyunwoo shook his head.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Minhyuk bit his lip.

“I… I bothered and clung to you all day, hyung, and I was mean to Kihyunnie.”

Hyunwoo put his hand on the boy’s knee to comfort him.

“Hey. You didn’t bother me. I love spending time with you, and you know that. Be it with big you or little you, ok? And yeah, you were mean to Kihyunnie. But nothing bad happened, and you must have had a reason. I want to know what was it.”

To his surprise, Minhyuk blushed.

“I just… I called you… that.”

Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow.

“What does you calling me ‘papa’ have to do with anything?”

Minhyuk’s blush deepened.

“I thought I wouldn’t really want to call any of you guys like that or any variant of that, like Kihyunnie does. But… but lately we’ve been getting closer, and… and I’ve wanted to call you that for a while, and I intended to ask if I could call you that. I mean, I know Ki didn’t ask Kyun or Hoseok hyung, but I wanted to ask, but then you started hanging out more with the others and less with me, and I know it was just circumstances, but I guess my little self wasn’t so chill about it, and… I’m sorry, hyung.”

Hyunwoo didn’t know what to say to that. Indeed, him and Minhyuk had been getting pretty close recently, and they’d really spent the few last days apart from each other. But he hadn’t expected to Minhyuk to be feeling like that.

“Minhyukie… Oh, Min. I don’t know what to say. I hadn’t noticed you were feeling like that. I wish I had, I would have made sure you knew how much I love and treasure you.”

Feelings were definitely not Hyunwoo’s forte, but he tried his best. Minhyuk gave him a tiny smile.

“It’s ok. You couldn’t know.”

Hyunwoo shook his head.

“I really couldn’t. So next time, please tell me. I don’t want you feeling bad, ok? And you can call me whatever you want, Min. Ok?”

Minhyuk nodded. Then he reached forward, circling Hyunwoo in a hug. The older hugged back. Then he pulled back and, in a second of courage, he pecked Minhyuk in the lips. Instead of looking confused or disgusted as Hyunwoo expected, Minhyuk smirked. He leaned forward and kissed the boy like he meant it. Hyunwoo smiled. That seemed like a good way to end the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q&A CHAPTER: I'm still taking question, so please send them if you have any ^.^  
> You can ask any of the members, plus little Minhyuk and little Kihyun. Also, you can ask me questions!  
> Please, tell me who you want to answer your questions, something like "To little Minhyuk: what toys do you like playing with the most?"  
> Anyways, hope you liked the chapter


	24. Kihyun's Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Took me a while to post because I just spent about 28 hours traveling... Guess who's in Korea!!!
> 
> Anyways, as usual, if there's anything else you guys wanna see in this story, tell me in the comments. I need ideas!!

Kihyun was lost. Just a minute ago he was walking with his daddy, Bomi and Flopsy in a big field full of flowers, and now he was completely alone. His daddy was nowhere to be seen, and he had taken the two stuffed animals with him, and Kihyun was alone and starting to feel scared.

“Daddy?”

There was no answer to his call. The boy bit his lip. It was still sunny. Maybe he could go back the way they had come? He was fairly certain he knew where they’d come from, although he didn’t remember how they’d arrived at the field. Maybe if he went back, he would find his daddy and Flopsy and Bomi. Determined, Kihyun turned around and began walking back, the way he thought he’d come from.

He hadn’t walked more than a few steps when it began winding. In a few seconds, Kihyun was shaking. Clouds began to gather up, and soon the beautiful and warm sunny day had become stormy, cold and dark. Kihyun felt his lower lip start to tremble, and there were tears in his eyes. He was scared. He wanted his daddy, or his appa, or any of his caregivers.

“Daddy! Whewe awe you?”

Again, there was no answer. Kihyun swallowed hard. He was about to start walking again when the sky was illuminated by lightning. And, a second later, came the clash of thunder. Kihyun screamed, scared, and immediately began crying. He tried calling for his caregivers, but there was no one around.

Another lightning, another thunder. Kihyun sat down on the grass, pulling his knees closer and crying into them. And then, there was a different sound. Instead of thunder, something was roaring. It sounded close. Kihyun looked up, and his eyes immediately spotted a gigantic monster, with red eyes and grey skin, running towards him.

Once again, the boy screamed, he tried to get up, but his legs were shaking too much. The monster was still running towards him, and he couldn’t move. He was screaming and crying, and then… and then he woke up, panting.

The room wasn’t too dark, thanks to his nightlight, and Flopsy and Bomi were with him. But none of his caregivers were with him, and he didn’t know where his pacifier was, and he was still so scared, so he did the only thing he could think of. He started crying.

A second later there was some shuffling and then his daddy was by his side. Kihyun immediately made grabby hands to the boy, and Changkyun sat by his side. Kihyun clung to him, cry into his shoulder and repeating ‘daddy’, because he was so scared his daddy had left him.

A few moments later, something nudged his lips, and Kihyun eagerly opened his mouth. The pacifier helped him calm down a bit. And then there was light, and the room was completely illuminated, and Kihyun calmed down a it more. He half registered that Jooheon was next to them now, but he was too focused on how good it felt to be held by his daddy like that.

The other two were speaking now, talking to each other. Kihyun looked up, drying his cheeks with the sleeve of his onesie. Jooheon ran a hand through his hair.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Are you feeling better?”

Kihyun wasn’t. He was still scared his daddy would disappear, like he had done in the dream, and the monster would come back to get Kihyun. He shook his head.

“Kiyunnie scawed.”

Immediately, Changkyun’s arms tightened around him. Kihyun snuggled closer.

“It’s ok, baby. You don’t have to be scared anymore, daddy and Honey are here. Nothing can hurt you when we’re here.”

Kihyun looked at his daddy. He trusted him, but the dream was still clear in his mind. After a second, he lifted up his hand, pinky stretched. Pinky promises were unbreakable.

“Pinky pwomise?”

His daddy smiled and hooked his finger with Kihyun’s.

“Pinky promise.”

Kihyun nodded and turned to Jooheon. He would make all of his caregivers promise. Once they had sealed the promise, Kihyun relaxed a bit. He noticed his eyes were heavy.

“Are you feeling better now, pumpkin?”

Kihyun smiled. He loved that nickname. He nodded and felt Jooheon ruffle his hair, leaning into the touch. But then it was gone and Jooheon got up. Immediately, sleep vanished from Kihyun’s body. He reached out, whining.

“No. Stay. Daddy, Honey, stay with Kiyunnie.”

His daddy hummed.

“Uhn, I don’t think all of us will fit there, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun followed his daddy’s gaze, looking at the bed. He pouted. He didn’t want them to leave. He was still too scared and didn’t want to be alone.

“Pwetty pwease?”

He asked. The other two were silent for a second, and then his daddy sighed.

“Ok, wait a second.”

Kihyun felt his daddy standing up, and then he was being passed to Jooheon, who held him tightly. Changkyun started grabbing covers and duvets and putting them in the floor. Kihyun understood the idea and clapped, excited. Once the floor was covered, Jooheon put him down and Kihyun lay on the makeshift bed.

“Now Daddy and Honey sweep with Kiyunnie?”

He asked. His daddy laughed and nodded.

“Yes, baby, we can sleep together now.”

The two of them lay down too, one on each side of Kihyun. Kihyun smiled, feeling safe and warm and comfortable. And this time around, his dreams were way happier and much less scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Q&A CHAPTER: I'm still taking question, so please send them if you have any ^.^  
> You can ask any of the members, plus little Minhyuk and little Kihyun. Also, you can ask me questions!  
> Please, tell me who you want to answer your questions, something like "To little Minhyuk: what toys do you like playing with the most?"
> 
> Still need a few more questions. There are none for Jooheon, Hyungwon and Hyunwoo, so if you have any, feel free to send!!!
> 
> Also, anyone has any suggestion for a chapter with littler Kihyun?? What would you like to see?


	25. Q&A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here it is, guys! If I forgot any questions, I'm sorry! Tell me and I'll add them! Hope you like it.

\- KIHYUN:

1\. Have you ever tried to see a video/photo of the members took of you when you’re in little space?

God, no. Not that it makes any difference, because they show me pictures even when I say I don’t want to see it, and it’s embarrassing as hell.

 

2\. Do you like your pacifier a lot? ^^

W-what? No! Of course not! Who said that? It’s just something that I use sometimes when I’m in little space, ok? O-only in little space. I’ve never… oh whatever.

 

3\. Do you like any of the stuff you enjoy in little space (like cartoons or plushies) when you’re in big space ?

Of course not! Cartoons are lame, and even if I watch it sometimes it’s just because there isn’t anything better on TV. A-and Flops… I mean, the bunny Hoseok gave me just stays in my bed cause it’s the only place for it to stay. -whisper- and I only used that pacifier once without being little…

 

4\. And also when did you first fall into little space? Like what age 

Hum, I was almost 22… I m-may have had some slips, before that. But that was when I really fell into little space, fully.

 

\- LITTLE KIHYUN:

1\. Kihyunnie, is there another animal friend you want for Flopsy and Bomi? Why do you want it, baby? :)

Hum....... A ‘edgehog? C-cause they cute and fwuffy and look like daddy when daddy wakes up! A-and it’s name will be Cuddles!

 

2\. Who do you love the most, Appa Hoseok or Daddy Kyun?

W-What? No fair! Kiyunnie no choose!!! –whispers- b-but appa Hoseok….. Just because appa let’s Kiyunnie pway mowe!

 

3\. Are you gonna be mad if your daddy or appa lost Flopsy?

L-lose Flopsy? Yes! Kiyunnie vewy veeeewy mad! Appa and daddy no lose Flopsy! Kiyunnie twust appa and daddy!

 

4\. What’s your favourite animal and are you afraid of bugs?

Hum, Kiyunnie weally likes bunnies and hamstews and monkeys and ‘edgehogs and, and… and all animals! But no bugs! Kiyunnie no like bugs! Bugs awe scawy…

 

5\. Do you like your pacifier a lot? ^^

Yes! Kiyunnie love his paci!

 

6\. What’s your favourite word?

Weindeer, Cause Minmin teached Kiyunnie! And, and love! Cause Kiyunnie weally loves his cawegivews.

 

\- LITTLE MINHYUK:

1\. Who’s your favourite caretaker? And why? You have to choose one, no saying everyone!!

Only one? This isn’t fair! I love all of them! -whispering- papa Hyunwoo is the best, though… Please don’t tell the others I said that!

 

2\. If you were to give everybody else a new nickname, what would it be?

Hehe that sounds nice -mischievous smile- Kihyunnie is good because it’s cute and fluffy just like Kihyunnie. Jooheonie can be Bee hyung, Hyungwon hyung can be Froggie hyung and Seokie hyung can be just Seokie hyung, cause I like him a lot. Changkyunnie hyung can be Puppy hyung. Oh, and Hyunwoo hyung is –whispering, because he’s still embarrassed- Hyunwoo hyung is papa.

 

3\. Before meeting little Ki did you ever go into little space before ?

Nu-uh. Before Kihyunnie I didn’t even know about it!

 

\- MINHYUK:

1\. Sooo, Hyunwoo yeah? ;) when did you realize your feelings for him? And what exactly do you like about him? Btw: You two are such a cute pair ahhh!!

Hell yeah! Ah, I’ve liked hyung for… a while. I think I really noticed it a bit after I fell into headspace for the first time, because hyung took such good care of me, and I started noticing him more, and… well, yeah. I just like the way hyung is always taking care of us, even if he doesn’t let is show. And I agree, we’re a fabulous couple ;)

 

\- HYUNWOO:

1\. Sometimes do you not want to look after little Ki, especially after a long day of practice ?

I don’t think I’ve ever not wanted to take care of little Ki. Even if we’re tired, taking care of him helps us relax. As he’s really well-behaved in little space, so it isn’t too hard to take care of him.

 

2\. Would you like to be Minhyuk’s main caregiver?

Uhn, yeah, that would be really nice.

 

3\. You're in a relationship with Minhyuk now. Do you think it will change your relationship in little space as well?

Minhyukie isn’t that fond of cuddles and hugs when in little space. But I have a feeling that now he might like it a bit more, if it’s me.

 

4.Do you worry about Minhyuk, because he needs little space and is apparently under a lot of stress?

I actually worry more about Ki. Minhyukie doesn’t go that often in little space, only when something is bothering him or after we have a long and tiring week. I think it’s just his way to cope, and all of us have our own ways.

 

5.Does the stress Minhyuk and Kihyun feel, thus making them slip into little space, exist for you as well and do you feel like a bad leader because of it? 

I think all of us are really stressed, we just cope differently. And sometimes I do feel like I could do more, but if I can at least be there for them when they feel little, I feel a little better.  
(loved the hint)

 

\- HOSEOK:

1\. Kihyunie doesn't know how to swim, so what will you do when he wants to swim so badly and doesn't want to use the swimming float?

Well… we should really try to make him use them, but if he really doesn’t want… well, I guess we can let him in without them. We just have to pay attention and keep him in the shallow area!

 

2\. Have you ever considered going into little space ?

What, me? Pff, what? Of course not. I mean could imagine me, as a little? –Biting his lip- Even if it does sound nice sometimes…

 

\- HYUNGWON

1\. Does your relationship change a lot with Ki deepening on his head space ? Like are you caring when he’s in big space too or are you different?

Kihyun can care for himself when he’s not in headspace, he doesn’t need me to do that. Plus, he has Changkyun pampering him all that time…  
Ok, well, sometimes I do feel like making him eat and rest, but that’s because he’s always neglecting himself, and he really shouldn’t. Because of the band, of course. Whatever, it’s just that knowing about his little side makes everyone more protective of him, ok? Oh, just don’t tell him I said that.

 

2\. Are you and Hoseok in a relationship/out to the members?

Uhn… yes, we’re together, but the others don’t need to know, and they won’t know anytime soon, if it depends on me

 

3\. Are you jealous when Kihyun needs a lot of Hoseok’s attention?

I thought I would be, sometimes I want to be, but… that little brat is absolutely adorable, it’s impossible to feel anything negative towards him

 

4\. What was your first reaction to finding out about Kihyun and Hoseok being his first caregiver?

When I first found out I was really surprised, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Kihyun hyung has always liked attention and being cared for, and he was always acting cute, like we said when we went on that interview, so it was easy to accept it. It felt almost natural, honestly.  
About Hoseok hyung… well, it makes sense too. Out of us, Hoseok is the most sensitive one, and he’s really tactful and good with kids. It makes sense that Ki would get attached to him. And I’m proud he managed to keep Kihyun’s little space a secret for so long.

 

\- JOOHEON:

1\. What’s your fave activity to do with little Ki?

Ah, there’s a lot! Kihyun hyung is so cute when he’s in little space! But I think tickling, because it makes him laugh and he likes it a lot.

 

2\. Do you feel more like a playmate or a caregiver to Kihyun and Minhyuk and do you treat them differently because of their mental age?

Ah, definitely playmate. It’s way better, leave all the serious stuff to their main caregivers. And, uhn, not so much with Min, cause his little age is older than Ki hyung’s. But with Kihyun hyung… well, I do feel the need to take care of him more ever since we found out about him being little. I wish he’d let me pinch his cheeks when he’s not in headspace.

 

3\. How did you feel when you found out about Minhyuk being little too?

I thought it was really good, actually. Kihyun hyung was always really embarrassed about being little, so I thought having someone else with him might help. And it did! Plus, Min is always so playful and childish. I wasn’t even that surprised, I already had a feeling this might happen.

 

-CHANGKYUN:

1\. Do you get jealous sometimes when you see Kihyun snuggling with other members?

What? No! ……. Ok, maybe a bit. But I’m his boyfriend! I have the right! (But I have to admit, it’s hard to not snuggle with Kihyun)

 

2\. Kihyunnie doesn't know how to swim, so what will you do when he wants to swim so badly and doesn't want to use the swimming float?

Nope. No swimming without the swimming float. It’s either that or Kihyunnie stays very far from the water. No buts and ifs.

 

3\. You know, Kihyunnie seems to be in little space a lot lately. I wondered whether you sometimes miss doing ‘boyfriend-things’ when he spends so much time in little space? Such like   
kissing and… stuff.

Ah, Ki hyung is not in little space thaaat often. He usually goes into little space three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. The other days he’s in his normal headspace and we, uhn –blushing- we have a lot of time to do, uhn, boyfriend stuff –hides face-

 

\- AUTHOR:

1\. If you had heard about little space randomly without knowing any of the members are little and if those who are, weren't little, who would you think fits the description of a little and who that of a daddy? And who would the members think of?

I think Kihyun and Hoseok fit the description, and maybe – maybe – Changkyun too. I think the members would go for Changkyun because he is the baby of the group, and he does act quite childishly sometimes. As for daddy, I would say Hyunwoo, because he just gives that vibe of someone who takes care of others.

 

2\. How does Jooheon’s aegyo work with Kihyun and Minhyuk?

It doesn’t really affect Minhyuk much, but sometimes it affects Kihyun. If he’s feeling a bit like he might go into little space, Jooheon’s Aegyo makes him fall quicker into headspace. If he is already little, Jooheon’s aegyo makes him giggle and he tries to imitate it.

 

3\. Are the times Minhyuk regressed in the story the only times he regressed so far or are there other times when he did? If yes, will we get to read about that more often or will the story focus on Kihyun more?

He’s regressed more than the times that actually appeared in the story, but not much. Minhyuk doesn’t go into little space as easily as Kihyun, it’s not common for him to feel little. There will be other times when he regresses, but the focus is Kihyun, so little Minhyuk will appear less times. Still, there will be more little Minhyuk in the story!

 

4\. Is there a certain timeline your working with or are you taking requests?

I’m not following a really strict timeline, the story isn’t even completely linear. I’m definitely taking requests; if anyone wants anything to happen just comment and I’ll try to write!

 

5\. Hyunwoo is known for not being able to express his emotions and feelings, does that change when he interacts with the littles?

It doesn’t change much, but he is softer around the littles – especially Minhyuk. He takes care of them and looks after them, making sure they are ok, and he is always paying attention to them, but he doesn’t show it all that much.

 

6\. Do you think Hyunwoo feels smaller (not really little, but softer?) When he interacts with the littles? What do the members think about that?

He surely becomes softer when he interacts with the littles. Most of the time the members can spot a little fond smile on his face when he is around the littles, and they think it’s adorable, because usually Hyunwoo has the same blank expression all the time. Sometimes they tease him, but they like to see him smiling like that.

 

7.Which of the caregivers is more like a playmate than a caregiver?

Jooheon and Hyungwon. And Minhyuk, when he’s not feeling little.

 

8\. Will there be a chapter about Minhyuk being littler than usual?

I intend to write that, yes, so if anyone wants to leave a suggestion for that, feel free to tell me!

 

9\. How does Kihyun feel about Minhyuk being a little as well and what does he think about Min being older than him in headspace?

At first he didn’t quite know what to feel, but after getting used to it, he was happy and a bit relieved because he wasn’t the only one. Plus, little Kihyun is really happy to have a playmate, and he loves the way Minhyuk takes care of him in little space. He’d like it better if Minhyuk’s little age was the same as his or if Min was younger, because sometimes he gets embarrassed about how young he is in little space. But he is still really happy to have another little in the group.

 

10\. Who do you enjoy writing the most?

Little Kihyun is my favourite, he’s too adorable

 

11\. What was your inspiration for writing this?

I think ageplay is really cute, and I’ve always wanted a Monsta X fanfiction with ageplay, (non-sexual ageplay) but I never found it, so I decided to write one myself. And this is what came out!

 

12\. And how long have you been a monbebe?

Since All In came out! It isn’t that long, but it’s enough for Hoseok to become my ultimate bias o/ (I love him so much)

 

13\. How does Kihyun’s little space affect his and Changkyun’s relationship? – wasn’t exactly a question, but I made it into one hehe –

It doesn’t really affect them much. They know how to separate things. Kihyun’s little space is a way for him to de-stress. He goes into little space about two or three days a week, usually, so there’s still a lot of times for them to work on their relationship.  
Something it does affect, is the way they see each other. Because of Kihyun’s little headspace, Changkyun is really protective of him, no matter what headspace Kihyun is in. So, he is always very caring towards Kihyun. It affects Kihyun too. He leans more on Changkyun, despite being older, and likes being protected and cared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who left questions and suggestions ^.^ your ideas were written down and I'll use them, so thank you very much!!  
> ALSO: does anyone have a prompt for littler Kihyun? I wanted to write a chapter like that, but I don't have an idea yet, so if anyone does, feel free to suggest!!!  
> Love you guys <3


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To accompany the Q&A, so that the people who didn't want a Q&A have an update too!  
> Hope you guys like, and again, if anyone had a suggestion for a chapter with littler Kihyun or littler Minhyuk, leave it in the comments!

Kihyun didn’t know how it had happened. He had been trying to find a quiet and hidden place to rest, away from all of the noise that came with being in a seven people group, and he had found the perfect spot. Well, almost. It was a large closet, with some cleaning supplies. The place was quiet and far enough that the noise from the group’s dressing room didn’t get there. It also didn’t have a too strong smell, and it was spacious – shut up, it isn’t just because he’s small.

Kihyun just needed sometime. They had had a long day and were getting ready to go home. He was already ready, but the others were taking their time and joking around, and Kihyun just wanted silence so he could rest and relax a bit. Mostly because he was tired, but also… well, he’d been feeling a bit on edge on that day, walking the dangerous line that divided his adult headspace from his little headspace. He was scared of falling on little space. The others had had a long day. They probably didn’t want to spend the rest of the day busy looking after Kihyun. So, finding that closet seemed like a blessing from heaven. Promising himself to only stay a little while there, Kihyun entered the room.

Kihyun had not expected for the door to close behind him as soon as he let go. He didn’t expect it to be so dark. And he definitely didn’t expect it to not have a handle inside. And now he was locked.

As soon as he noticed he could barely see five inches from his face, Kihyun’s breath picked up. This was something he’d never told the others, because he was embarrassed about it, but his fear of the dark when he was in little space wasn’t random. It was born from Kihyun’s normal fear of the dark. The only difference was that adult Kihyun could pretend he wasn’t scared, and could actually sleep without a light on – even if he preferred not to – and little Kihyun couldn’t.

The boy tried to calm himself down. It would do him no good to panic. But after two minutes of trying to control his breathing and it having no effect, Kihyun started to feel himself slipping. He whimpered. He couldn’t fall in little space. Especially not now. He was already scared enough as it was. Little Kihyun would be completely terrified.

 

Hyunwoo knew Kihyun sometimes needed to get away and stay by himself for a while. He also knew that sometimes it was an immediate need, and that Kihyun could find a place to hide almost anywhere. So he knew he shouldn’t be too worried when Kihyun disappeared from the dressing room after getting ready to leave. But ever since they had become Kihyun’s caregivers, his protective instinct towards the boy had heightened immensely. Plus, Kihyun usually didn’t stay away for too long. Ten minutes was too long, wasn’t it?

He sighed silently. Maybe he was just being neurotic. He busied himself with getting his bag ready and checking on how the others were doing, telling himself that Kihyun would come back soon. But then everyone was almost done with organizing their stuff, and Kihyun had been gone for twenty minutes already, and Hyunwoo was pretty sure something was wrong. He went looking for Hoseok.

“Seokie…”

As soon as he approached the boy, Hyunwoo noticed he wasn’t the only one worried. Hoseok and Changkyun were both looking at the younger’s phone. Changkyun’s conversation with Kihyun was open – Hyunwoo didn’t internally laugh at the way the maknae had saved Kihyun’s contact as Baby Hamster <3 – a message asking where the older was on the screen, received, but unread.

“Hyung, have you seen Kihyun hyung?”

Hyunwoo shook his head at the maknae.

“That’s what I was going to ask you guys.”

Changkyun bit his lip.

“I saw him leaving, but I don’t know where he went.”

Hoseok sounded guilty, and Hyunwoo noticed Changkyun reaching over to squeeze his hand.

“I saw him leaving too.” Said the leader. “But he does this sometimes, so I let him be.”

Changkyun nodded and Hoseok sighed.

“Should we go looking for him?”

Hyunwoo and Hoseok nodded at the suggestion, and soon all of the members were looking for Kihyun.

Thankfully, the place they were in wasn’t big. This helped calm them down. But after almost fifteen minutes looking, they were starting to panic. Hyunwoo reached the end of another corridor and ran a hand through his hair. He took his phone and sent out a message, telling everyone to gather back at the dressing room.

Once everyone answered, the leader started making his way back. Internally, he repeatedly beat himself. He should have been more careful, paid more attention. He was the leader. He was responsible for those kids. How could he let this happen?

He was still mumbling to himself when he heard a soft sob. Immediately, he stopped. He stayed completely still, barely breathing. A second later he heard another sob. His heart started racing. He wanted to run towards the noise, but he was scared of not hearing where it was coming from if he made too much noise.

Carefully, the leader took another step forward, then a few more. The sound was louder now, someone crying. With his heart beating fast, he risked calling the younger boy.

“Kihyun?”

The sobs stopped. Hyunwoo held his breath. Then…

“H-Hyuhyu?”

Hyunwoo let out the air in his lungs in a big sigh of relief. He’d found Kihyun.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Can you tell Hyuhyu where you are?”

The leader quickly took his phone and sent the others a message with his location.

“I-It’s dawk.”

Hyunwoo’s heart broke. He knew Kihyun was scared of the dark – don’t tell Kihyun that –, and he knew that fear got ten times worse when he was in little space. He followed the little voice, until he was standing in front of a supply closet.

“It’s ok, bug. Hyuhyu will get you out.”

Kihyun sniffed again and Hyunwoo opened the door. He immediately spotted Kihyun sitting on the floor and crouched down, pulling the boy out and picking him up. Kihyun immediately clung to the leader, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Hyuhyu.”

The little cried, hugging Hyunwoo tightly. The leader only patted the boy’s back, shushing him. A second later there were footsteps coming towards them and soon the whole band was around Hyunwoo and Kihyun. They immediately understood that the boy was in little space from the way he was clinging to the leader.

“Kihyunnie, baby, are you ok? We were so worried.”

Kihyun turned to Changkyun’s voice, making grabby hands at the maknae. The boy gladly picked the older up, holding him tightly.

“Appa. Kiyunnie scawed.”

Changkyun cooed at the boy.

“I know, baby, but we’re here, now.”

Kihyun sniffed and rested his head on the maknae’s shoulder. Hyunwoo looked around. Everyone seemed extremely relieved, just like Hyunwoo felt.

“Let’s go home, everyone. We could use some rest.”

 

The ride to the dorm was quiet and calm. Usually they talked and play games, even when Kihyun was in little space, but there was something about the way Kihyun was curled up against Changkyun and told them this was the time to be more quiet and calm. So they keep silent. Changkyun, on the other hand, spent the whole ride playing with the little. Well, kind of. Actually, Kihyun was playing with his fingers, giggling to himself quietly, and Changkyun was pretty sure the boy was deeper in headspace than usual.

Once they arrived at the dorm, Changkyun got out of the car and extended a hand to help Kihyun get down. Instead of accepting it, though, Kihyun whined and shook his head. Changkyun frowned.

“What’s wrong, Kihyunnie?”

Kihyun pouted more and crossed his arms. Changkyun was at a loss of what to do. Why didn’t Kihyun want to leave? The maknae felt someone stop behind him.

“Try picking him up.”

Suggested Hyunwoo. The leader had noticed the way Kihyun still hadn’t touched the ground since Hyunwoo had taken him from the closet. Changkyun shrugged and picked the boy up. This time, Kihyun let himself be taken out of the car. Changkyun raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He took the little inside.

It was a bit of a challenge to take his and Kihyun’s shoes out while still holding the boy, but with Hyunwoo’s help, Changkyun managed. The leader also took Kihyun’s thumb from the boy’s mouth. The little whined, but didn’t put it back, instead, he began chewing on Changkyun’s shirt. Definitely littler, then.

The maknae headed to the couch, intending to but Kihyun down so he get clothes for himself and for the little. As soon as he reached the couch and tried to put Kihyun down, though, the little whined and clung to him tighter. Changkyun stood back up.

“Baby, I’ll just go get some things for you. It’ll be just a second.”

Kihyun shook his head and tightened his grip even more. Changkyun looked around, not sure what he should do. Hoseok, who had just finished changing and was re-entering the room, frowned.

“What’s the problem, Kyun?”

Changkyun motioned towards the little.

“Kihyunnie doesn’t want to be put down. Hoseok hummed, then extended his hands.

“Here, I’ll take him.”

Changkyun smiled gladly and passed the little to the older.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Hoseok only smiled and sat down on the sofa, Kihyun on his lap.

Once inside his room, Changkyun started looking for clothes. He dressed himself in his pyjamas and got Kihyun’s footed onesie and his pacifier. Then, after a second, he grabbed one of Kihyun’s diapers for when he was deeper in headspace.

They hadn’t used those much, only two times so far, but Changkyun had a feeling they were needed now.

He returned to the living room to find Hoseok and Hyunwoo playing with Kihyun while the little giggled happily. It was an adorable sight. As the maknae approached them, Kihyun turned to him and clapped happily, making noises towards the younger boy.

“Hey, baby! Daddy’s back!”

Hoseok passed the little to the maknae and him and Hyunwoo got up to give Changkyun space. The youngest sat on the couch, lying Kihyun down. He quickly undressed and redressed the boy, and soon Kihyun was sighing happily, clearly glad to be out of those tight clothes he’d been wearing. He became even happier when Changkyun gave him his pacifier, and seconds later the maknae was sitting on the couch with a sleeping Kihyun on his lap. He laughed.

“He’s so cute like this. Especially when he’s littler.”

Commented Hoseok. The other two nodded.

“He’ll be embarrassed when he comes out of headspace, though.”

They knew Changkyun was right. Kihyun was always a bit shy after he came out of headspace, but when he went deeper it was worse. But they would find a way around it, a way to help Kihyun feel more comfortable. They always did.


	27. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, guess who went to Monsta X's fan meeting? I don't even know how I'm alive, seriously, I'm jkbzdfjb  
> Hoseok's voice is so sweet live?????? And he's adorable and so giggly! And Hyungwon is so cute and such a precious baby, I didn't expect him to be like that? And Hyunwoo too! Also, Kihyun is tiny!!!!! At one point he was sitting with his legs crossed on the chair and he looked so precious I'm seriously not ok.
> 
> Anyways, new chapter!!!

Kihyun was nervous. He knew he didn’t need to be nervous; They’d been doing this whole ageplay thing for a good time, now, and although he still got embarrassed when showed pictures and told about stuff he did in little space, he was much more comfortable with being little than he’d been in the beginning. But still, he was nervous.

The things he had for his little self were either things he bought for himself or presents from his caregivers. He’d never… the others didn’t even ask what he wanted to be given, they just bought things they figured he’d like and gave it to him. But recently, Changkyun had been trying to convince Kihyun to shop with him for things for his little self. And Kihyun had told him he wasn’t ready, and Changkyun had accepted, and told Kihyun to look for him when he was ready.

At first, Kihyun thought he’d never be ready for that. But the idea didn’t seem to leave his mind, running around it all day long, for days, until Kihyun accepted that yeah, he did want to shop for things with Changkyun.

Approaching the younger was hard. Kihyun still struggled with the part of telling people things of… well, life, but mostly of ageplay. He had difficulty out rightly saying that he wanted this or that when he was little, or telling the others he was feeling little or wanted to go into little space. This was no different.

But he managed. He shyly pulled the boy aside, cheeks red, and stumbled over his words, until he noticed Changkyun was laughing and hit the boy. Changkyun had kissed him and told him that they could do it on the next day

And here Kihyun was, in front of Changkyun’s room, trying to get the courage to walk in.

 

“Hey, Changkyunnie.”

Changkyun turned on his chair and smiled, making space for his boyfriend.

“Hey, hyung. Ready?”

Kihyun blushed, but nodded, a small smile taking his lips. He sat next to Changkyun and the maknae opened an internet browser.

The first site they visited had toys. Kihyun’s eyes shone when all of the toys appeared on the screen, and he had to force himself to focus, so he didn’t fall in little space. Changkyun gave his hand a squeeze.

“It’s ok if you fall into headspace, hyung. Don’t worry about it.”

Kihyun just nodded. They started looking through the page, and Kihyun’s impulse was to want everything, but he controlled himself.

The first thing he really wanted was a little giraffe that had wheels on its feet. Kihyun shyly asked Changkyun to stop and pointed at it, biting on his lip. Changkyun smiled and added the toy to the cart. They continued moving, and eventually Kihyun stopped him, but most of the time he just looked, fascinated by all the options.

At one point, Kihyun let out a little whine. Changkyun turned to him only to see the boy blushing hard. He looked at the screen, trying to understand the problem, then raised an eyebrow.

“Anything you want here, Ki?”

Kihyun quickly shook his head. Changkyun sighed.

“Hey, c’mon. Be honest with me. You don’t have to be embarrassed.”

Kihyun looked at the younger. He was already mostly ok with his usual little headspace. Going littler, however, was still an issue. The bottle was almost acceptable, but wearing diapers still made Kihyun want to hide from everyone when he was in his adult headspace, even if it only happened once in a blue moon.

He looked at the screen, where a baby pink rattle was staring at him. Then, looking down, he pointed at the babyish item. Changkyun smiled and added it to the cart. Then he kissed Kihyun’s cheek.

“I’m proud of you, Ki.”

Kihyun smiled wildly.

In the end, besides the giraffe and the rattle, they ended up with a set of play-doh, an animal puzzle with ten pieces, a rabbit ear headband and a pink plush airplane. Kihyun seemed satisfied, smiling contentedly as he looked at his choices.

“Is this good, Ki?” The older nodded shyly, not even noticing the drop of formalities. “Ok, so now to accessories.”

Changkyun opened a new tab and was looking for a website when someone entered the room. Kihyun immediately tensed, but relaxed when he noticed it was Hoseok. His cheeks reddened as he noticed Hoseok looking at the screen of the computer.

“Hey, what are you two doing?”

Changkyun looked up, only then noticing Hoseok.

“Hyung, hey! We were doing some shopping.”

Hoseok smiled.

“Buying things for Kihyunnie?”

Kihyun’s blush deepened, but he nodded. He pulled Changkyun closer.

“Kyunnie, can Seokie join?”

Changkyun took notice of the nicknames, and noticed it wouldn’t be long before Kihyun was in little space.

“Of course. Ask him.”

Kihyun turned to shyly smile at Hoseok.

“Seokie, do you want to help?”

Hoseok smiled brightly.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

They all settled down, and the search continued. This site was for accessories. There were pacifiers, sippy cups, blankets, bottles, diapers, everything. Kihyun was a bit overwhelmed.

The thing Kihyun had the most was, by far, pacifiers. His favourite was still the first one he bought, the light pink one, with silver stars, but he had many others. Still, as he eyed the options, his heart raced with want. He looked at the options, promising himself to buy only one. He looked carefully, and Changkyun and Hoseok watched amused as the boy’s face scrunched up in concentration. It was adorable.

They were already in the section for five minutes when Kihyun made a tiny gasping sound. Hoseok and Changkyun looked at him, to see the boy blushing.

“Ki? Did you find one you like?”

Prompted the maknae, already knowing the answer. Kihyun shrugged.

“Which one, Ki?”

Asked Hoseok. Kihyun chewed on his lip for a second, then pointed. Hoseok bit his own lip not to squeal. It was a light pink pacifier with the words ‘Baby Boy’ written on it, and it came with a purple clip.

“It’s really cute, Ki.”

Said Changkyun, softly. Kihyun just nodded.

After the pacifier came the other items. Kihyun chose two simple sippy cups; one transparent with blue, purple and silver stars all over it and a pink lid and another transparent one, this one with colourful little fishes and starfishes. They also bought a bib, a sectioned plastic plate and Pororo plastic chopsticks. And then it was time to shop for clothes.

Changkyun had pondered over what order to buy things at. At first, he’d left the toys for last, but then he remembered how much Kihyun liked clothes and dressing up, even in little space, and decided clothes could be last. And he was right. Kihyun’s eyes sparkled as he looked at all the options.

The thing Kihyun had the least was clothes. The others often gave him toys and accessories, but clothes were rare, so this was their chance to enlarge Kihyun’s options. And Kihyun seemed pretty happy with that.

The first thing he asked for was a set of baby blue pyjamas that had shooting stars all over them. Then there was a long sleeved orange and white fox onesie with a hoodie with a fox’s face. Changkyun chuckled imagining how cute Kihyun would look in it.

They bought some underwear, too, and shirts with animal prints and colourful shorts, plus short sleeved pyjamas and, although it took some convincing to get Kihyun to actually ask for it, a space snap crotch onesie. And then they were done. Hoseok ruffled Kihyun’s hair and bid them goodbye, saying he needed to go before Hyungwon came looking for him.

Once they were alone, Changkyun turned to Kihyun.

“So, how was it?”

Kihyun’s cheeks were dusted pink, but he was smiling.

“It was fun.”

He said, simply. Changkyun smiled and pinched his cheek.

“I can’t wait for them to get here.”

He said. Kihyun’s smile widened.

“Me neither!” He bit his lip. “C-can… can I…?”

Changkyun smiled, already having expected this.

“C’mon, let’s put you on some more comfortable clothes, then we can go explore the jungle with Flopsy.”

Kihyun squealed and got up, holding Changkyun’s hand and pulling the younger to the closet where they kept Kihyun’s little stuff.

The maknae laughed and opened the door.

 

The things didn’t take long to arrive. Four days after they’d purchased them, there was a pile of boxes waiting for them at the door of the dorm. When Kihyun spotted them, his heart sped up, and he wanted nothing more than to take them and open everything and try things on, but he pretended like he wasn’t affect. By his side, Changkyun held his hand and gave him an understanding smile.

Together, they carried the boxes inside. Kihyun promised to show the others everything, but not while he was in his adult headspace. He would let Changkyun see, because Changkyun was his boyfriend and had helped him buy it, and this was their experience. Together.

So the two of them locked themselves away and sat on the floor, surrounded by boxes. Kihyun was almost shaking with excitement, although he was trying to hide it, and Changkyun was trying not to laugh at his boyfriend’s cuteness.

“C’mon, will you only stare at it? Open them!”

Kihyun yelped and grabbed the nearest box. Carefully, he opened it, peeking inside. He gripped the box tighter when he saw the contents, trying not to squeal. Carefully, he took it out. It was the first toy Kihyun had chosen, the giraffe, and Kihyun bit his lip, before putting it on the floor and giving it a shy little push. Changkyun chuckled at the little squeal from his boyfriend as the giraffe moved on the floor.

Kihyun put the giraffe away and looked around. He grabbed the box behind him and opened it. This one had the plush airplane, and Kihyun ran his hands over it, whining at the soft material. He could feel his little side begging to come out, but he didn’t let it, just yet.

They made their way through all of the toys, then started on the clothes. The first one he opened was the box with the animal shirts. There were five in total, the animals being a lion, a puppy, and kitten, a monkey and an octopus. Kihyun squealed at them, hugging the octopus one. Changkyun extended his hand to get them, and fold them, and Kihyun reluctantly gave them. The maknae noticed it wouldn’t be long before Kihyun was in little space, now.

On the next box were the shorts, then the pyjamas. The fox onesie was a bit difficult to pry from Kihyun’s hands, but the pout on his face was soon gone as he opened the last box and grabbed the snap crotch onesie with space theme. He bit his lip and looked at Changkyun. The maknae smiled.

“Do you want to put it on, baby?” Kihyun blushed and looked down and Changkyun bit his lip. Kihyun just need a little push, now. “Hey, look what I’ve got here.”

He said, picking up the bunny headband. Kihyun’s eyes shone and he reached forward. Changkyun smiled and pushed the boy’s hands down, putting the headband on Kihyun himself, knowing this would help the boy feel little. Kihyun squealed and touched the ears, before looking around. He spotted a mirror and rushed to it, looking at himself before giggling.

“Kyunnie! I look like Flopsy!”

Changkyun smiled. Almost there.

“You do, baby, you look so cute!” Kihyun giggled again. “Now come here, let me get you dressed.”

Kihyun nodded and rushed back to Changkyun. He let the younger undress him, then Changkyun grabbed the box with underwear, asking Kihyun to choose.

The boy, who was slightly covering himself, shyly pointed at one with the Care Bears. He wasn’t fully in little space, yet, but Changkyun knew he soon would be.

He dressed the boy on his new underwear, then picked up the space onesie. He took the fox onesie, too, so that Kihyun had a choice, and showed both items. Kihyun bit his lip. The maknae could see the boy’s eyes lingering on the space onesie, but he could also see that Kihyun was embarrassed about wanting to wear. Gently, he spoke up.

“You’d look adorable in this one, Kihyunnie. Do you want it?”

Kihyun looked at Changkyun, who was holding up the space onesie. Then he shyly nodded, hands fidgeting in front of him. Changkyun smiled and opened the onesie, pulling it on Kihyun before closing it. He then ruffled Kihyun’s hair around the headband.

“You look adorable, baby boy! Look at you!”

Kihyun turned around, towards the mirror, then squealed and turned back around, burying his face on Changkyun’s chest. The maknae laughed.

“It look good, daddy?”

Changkyun hugged the boy tightly.

“Yes, baby, it looks amazing.”

Kihyun pulled back and looked around.

“C-can Kiyunnie have paci?”

Changkyun nodded.

“You want the new one?”

Kihyun quickly nodded and Changkyun looked for the new pacifier, getting it and attaching the clip to the boy's shirt before giving it to Kihyun. The boy put it on his mouth and sighed happily. Pacifiers were his comfort item. They managed to calm him down no matter what. It amazed Changkyun. And what made the habit cuter was the fact that once he’d caught Kihyun sucking on it while on his adult headspace – don’t tell Kihyun that –, so it wasn’t something limited to his little self.

“Daddy. Can we put away later?”

Changkyun followed Kihyun’s eyes and noticed the mess the room was. He laughed.

“Of course, baby. Daddy will put things away later, don’t worry about it. Now, I have a present for you.” Kihyun’s eyes widened. “Close your eyes and extend your hands, baby boy.”

Kihyun immediately obeyed. Laughing quietly, Changkyun reached under his pillow and grabbed something he’d been keeping hidden for a few days. He looked at the plush hedgehog and smiled, before putting it on Kihyun’s hands.

The little immediately opened his eyes, then his mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ shape. He looked at Changkyun, then at the plush toy, then back at Changkyun.

“D-daddy got it for Kiyunnie?”

Changkyun nodded.

“A little bird told daddy that you wanted a new friend.”

Kihyun hugged him so hard it almost crushed Changkyun, but the maknae didn’t mind.

“Thank you, daddy. Kiyunnie love it!”

Changkyun laughed.

“I’m glad, baby boy. What’s their name?”

Kihyun didn’t even hesitate.

“Cuddles! Cause he cute and cuddly!”

Changkyun laughed more and ruffled the boy’s hair again.

“That’s perfect, Kihyunnie. Now why don’t we go out to show the others your new clothes and friend?”

Kihyun squealed and grabbed Changkyun’s hand, dragging him out of the room while the maknae laughed, fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?


	28. Chapter 28

Hey, guys, it's been a while, right? But I'm back! Which of these would you like to read first? As soon as there's enough answers I'll start writing, so it'll probably be up today or tomorrow ^.^

 

1\. Little Kihyun accidentally eats medicine and gets sick:

2\. Taking Shots:

3\. Little Kihyun gets lost in a foreign country

4\. The group goes swimming and Kihyun feels little

5\. Littler Kihyun

6\. Little during a photo shoot because of the props

7\. Min and Ki being little outside

 

I was traveling and didn't have much time to write >.< but now I have a while before University is back! Also, if any of you have suggestions for future chapters, feel free to leave them in the comments!!!


	29. Photo Shoot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So, photo shoot and little Min and Little Ki got the most votes, but I had an idea for the photo shoot first, so I chose that. Little Min and Ki will probably be coming tomorrow, though, so you won't have to wait long ^.^
> 
> After that it'll probably be 5 > 4 > 1 > 3 > 2
> 
> Thank you to everyone who voted!!! <3
> 
> Hope you like this chapter

Kihyun prided himself in his self-control. Ever since all of the members had accepted his little side and settled into a routine, he’d started getting more comfortable with himself. This meant that he stopped avoiding going into little space and started telling the others when he felt little. It was a slow process, of course, but he was getting there. And this, in turn, meant that there very few times when he slipped accidentally.

He’d learned to control himself better, because even if nothing bad had happened on the one time he slipped during a fansign, it didn’t mean he could always do that. It was dangerous, and something to be avoided. So they created a routine of getting Kihyun into little space two days before events that involved direct interaction with fans, to make sure he wasn't feeling little when those came.

Still, it took a lot of control. The fans often presented them with cute headbands and toys, with pacifiers and bubble guns, and Kihyun always felt his little side wanting to come out. But he always managed to hold on, only letting himself be little later, when he was alone with his caregivers.

So, Kihyun prided himself in his self-control. And he was thankful to his members, for helping him avoid these accidental slips. But unfortunately, none of them could predict the future, which led them to the situation they were in right now, and no amount of self-control would be enough to help him.

 

“Ki, wake up.”

Kihyun groaned. He didn’t want to get up. His alarm had rung a while ago, and he had turned it off and gone back to sleep, because he just didn’t want to get up. He should have known someone would come to wake him up.

“Don’t want to.”

He whined. The person by his side sighed.

“I know, Ki, but you have to.”

He opened his eyes and looked at the person waking him up, who turned out to be Hoseok, and pouted.

“But hyung…”

He whined, hoping to get out of whatever schedule they had that day. Hoseok bit his lip.

“I see someone is feeling a bit little today, hum?" Kihyun blushed a little. He was getting more comfortable, yes, but they still had some way to go. Hoseok sighed. "Sorry, Ki, but we have a photo shoot. You just have to make it through that, then you can be as little as you want. Ok?”

Kihyun sighed. There was no getting out of this, so he needed to focus on getting himself 100% on the right headspace. That meant no whining, so rolling around in bed and no complaining about getting up. So he nodded at Hoseok.

The older left him to wake up alone, knowing too much coddling and caring wouldn’t help Kihyun, and the younger got up. He stretched, avoiding looking at his bed, where two of his stuffed toys lay. He chose some tight jeans and a t-shirt that wasn’t too big, hoping to help himself stay in his adult headspace, then headed out. Just a photo shoot. Then he could be little.

During breakfast, Changkyun and Jooheon whined to him, asking Kihyun to get them food all of that, and Kihyun wanted to pout and say he should be the one being fed, but he couldn’t. So he focused on serving the kids and then on eating his food, ignoring the way Hoseok was keeping an eye on him.

They were about to leave when a hand pulled Kihyun’s shirt. The boy stumbled back, his back hitting someone. He turned around, glaring, only to smile when he saw his boyfriend.

“Hey there.”

Changkyun greeted, wiggling his eyebrows. Kihyun snorted.

“Grease ball.”

He muttered, before pressing a peck to Changkyun’s lips. The maknae laughed and pulled Kihyun into a longer kiss.

“Your ass looks hot on those pants, hyung. I couldn’t help it.”

Kihyun rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were burning/

“Well, better work on your self control, cause we’re heading out. C’mon.”

And saying that he pecked Changkyun one last time on the lips and pulled his boyfriend out of the dorm.

 

They didn’t take long to arrive where the shoot would happen, for which Kihyun was thankful. Firstly because it meant less time before he could relax and slip into little space, and secondly because the less time he spent bored, the easier it would be to avoid slipping.

They entered the building and were led to where they’d be shooting, and everything was fine, until they arrived at the actual spot. Kihyun froze. Hoseok, by his side, cursed. Kihyun looked at the older, eyes wide and cheeks red.

“Hyung…”

He started. Hoseok face palmed.

“Of all shoots…”

But before their conversation could progress, Kihyun was being pulled away to get his makeup done and Hoseok was being taken to test clothes. The main point was passed through, though: Kihyun was fucked.

 

It wasn’t unusual for male idols to do cute concepts. Monsta X wasn’t that big on those, really, but they had their moments. And apparently, right now was one of those moments. The props for the shoot were lined behind the camera: various stuffed animals and fluffy blankets, along with flower bouquets and cute little eyes masks.

Kihyun kept his gaze very far from all of that while he did his hair and makeup, but he knew sooner or later he’d have to look, and worse, hold the props, use them. He hoped against hope that he at least got the flower bouquet or the eye masks, because those would affect him less, but he knew it wouldn’t happen. Kihyun was small. As much as he hated admitting it, it was true. And that, plus his sweet face and now pink hair, made him the perfect model for fluffy photo shoots in a way that Changkyun, who was the same height as him, wasn’t.

He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to control himself. He couldn’t slip. It was too dangerous, too risky. If he was caught, how would he explain? There would be no way out of a big mess, and he couldn’t risk that. He considered telling his manager that he was sick, but he knew the man wouldn’t believe him. His only option was to calm down and hope everything went fine.

 

He didn’t watch Minhyuk, who was photographed holding two plush cats, or Hoseok, who was chosen for the eye masks and some stuffed animals. He did watch Hyungwon with his flower bouquet, until he was headed an adorable headband and Kihyun groaned and left. And then it was his turn.

Swallowing hard, he made his way to the set, only to freeze on his spot at the giant mountain of stuffed animals waiting for him. The pile was almost as tall as him, and Kihyun was internally screaming, wanting nothing more than to squeal and run into the pile, and play with the plushies, and… he shook his head. Obeying the photographer, he positioned himself and began his shoot.

At first it wasn’t too hard. He didn’t have to hold anything, just stand there and look soft, which was quite easy to do. But then the photographer asked him to fall on the pile of stuffed animals and then pick one up once he sat up, and that was it. Kihyun was gone as soon as he felt the soft fur of the plushies, and he could see Hoseok’s eyes widening, but he was already in too deep to care. He laughed and picked up on stuffed animal, making a face at it.

There was a flash and the click of a camera and Kihyun looked up, looking around confused. Then he spotted Hoseok, past the cameras, and held his stuffed animal up, squishing it against his cheek to show the older. Another flash and click, and then someone was praising Kihyun about how natural he looked and he laughed, because he loved getting praised.

After a few more shots, which Kihyun ignored in favour of playing with the stuffed animals, the photographer asked the staff to change the props. Kihyun saw Hoseok hurrying to him with a different stuffed animal and kneeling in front of him. He smiled. Hoseok smiled back, although he seemed a bit upset.

“Hey, baby. Look, this is very important, ok? Do you remember when you had to pretend to be a grown up for those girls, a while ago?” Kihyun nodded, paying attention. “Well, I need you to do that again, ok? Here, take this and give me the other plushie. Just do as the nice woman behind the camera says, and then you’ll be done. Ok?”

Kihyun was a bit confused, and it was all too rushed, with Hoseok whispering and people walking around them and taking Kihyun’s plushies away, but the boy nodded.

“O-ok.”

Hoseok smiled and squeezed his arm, before getting up and heading back to his place behind the camera.

“Ok, that’s enough, let’s start.” Asked the photographer. The staff members all headed to her side, but she waved them away. “You can go for now, I only need Hoseok-shi here for this.”

The staff members looked at each other, confused, but as the woman told them to use this time to take a break they didn’t complain, and quickly left. Hoseok looked at the photographer, curiously.

“You need me to…?”

He prompted. The woman gave him a sweet and understanding smile.

“To take care of the kid there. He’s a little right? I didn’t think you’d want the information to get out, and he seemed a bit scared with so many people, so I asked them to leave.”

Hoseok gaped. The woman laughed.

“You… you know…”

The woman smiled softly.

“I know what ageplay is, yeah. My girlfriend is a little herself.” Hoseok looked at the woman, amazed, and she laughed. “C’mon, quit looking and help me. Distract him so he’s looking here.”

 

Kihyun had fun. He got to play with his plushies while Hoseok acted silly for him, and the woman constantly praised him, making him smile widely. He got to lie down in the middle of lots of plushies, and then he got to hand his appa a bag of stuffies. It was fun, and by the end Kihyun was lying among the stuffies, a tired smile on his face.

“Appa, tiwed.”

The woman with the camera cooed and Kihyun hid his face in a plushie, giggling.

“Just a little bit more, Kihyunnie.”

Prompted Hoseok, but the woman shook her head.

“It’s ok, I think this is enough. Plus, soon the others will come back. Take him, I think someone needs a nap.”

Hoseok smiled and nodded, opening his arms. Kihyun immediately got up and rushed to the older, jumping on him and letting Hoseok pick him up.

“Hey, baby boy. You did good today. Well done.”

Kihyun smiled and nuzzled his face against Hoseok’s neck, closing his eyes. Hoseok looked up to see the woman watching and smiling.

“He’s precious.”

She commented. Hoseok nodded.

“He really is.”

 

Kihyun fell asleep on Hoseok in less then ten minutes. The older boy spent the rest of the shoot in the dressing room, watching the sleeping little with Hyungwon and Minhyuk. The three boys talked quietly, to avoid waking the little up. Soon they would be going home, but for now Kihyun could rest.

It didn’t take long for the others to finish, and soon they were heading back to the dorms for a well-deserved afternoon of rest. They made a silent pact to stay quiet during the ride, so Kihyun wouldn’t wake up. The last time little Kihyun was awake during a car ride they spent a whole hour singing baby shark, and while they loved their little, it wasn’t exactly their fondest memory.

So they stayed quiet and when they arrived, Changkyun shook the boy and woke him up. Kihyun blinked sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his fist and yawning, before looking at Changkyun.

“Hey, baby! Had a nice nap?”

Kihyun smiled sleepily and nodded, before extending his arms. Changkyun chuckled and picked the boy up, heading inside carrying the little. For a while, Kihyun was just sleepily rubbing his eyes and stretching in Changkyun’s arms, but as soon as the maknae put him down and took off his shoes, the little ran inside, giggling.

Changkyun stood there for a second, confused, before there was a squeal from the hallway and Hyunwoo came into the living room, holding a giggling Kihyun upside down. The maknae chuckled at the scene and entered the dorms.

“Careful, little monkey, we don’t want you getting hurt, yeah?”

Kihyun just laughed and grabbed Hyunwoo’s arm tighter. The leader chuckled and half threw the little on the couch, taking care not to hurt the boy, before attacking him with tickles.

Changkyun shook his head and, still smiling, headed to the boy’s room. Kihyun was having fun now, but he would complain a lot later if they didn’t get him out of those tight jeans. He went to his room and grabbed some of the boy’s clothes, taking them to the living room. He had barely entered the room when something hit him.

“Daddy! Pwotect Kiyunnie! Hyuhyu want to eat Kiyunnie!”

And sure enough, Hyunwoo was walking towards them, exaggeratedly licking his lips, with his arms raised and hands turned into claws. Changkyun suffocated a laugh.

“Don’t worry, baby. Daddy has super powers and will protect you.”

He then raised his foot and kicked the air, and he knew he looked silly, but Kihyun was squealing behind him, delighted, so he didn’t really care about how he looked.

Hyunwoo stumbled back as Changkyun kicked the air, groaning, and then again and Changkyun punched the air, and they did this until the older fell to the ground, his tongue hanging comically out of his mouth. Kihyun clapped.

“Daddy! You did it! You saved us!”

Changkyun did a silly victory dance that had Kihyun laughing.

“Of course, baby! Daddy will always protect you. Now let’s change those clothes so we can play more, ok?”

Kihyun nodded happily and took Changkyun’s hand, letting the maknae take him to the bathroom.

From the floor, Hyunwoo watched. Kihyun seemed much happier nowadays, and more carefree. It made Hyunwoo feel lighter, happier, and he was glad to be part of the reason for Kihyun’s smile, for the others’ smiles. He wanted to keep them there forever.


	30. Swimming Pool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this turned out longer than I expected. Also, fair warning, I didn't reread it, and I can barely remember the beginning of the chapter, so sorry if there are many mistakes >.<
> 
> ALSO:
> 
> I have two questions:
> 
> First, how would you guys feel if there was another little member in the group?
> 
> Second: let's suppose another group has a little, and this group finds out about Kihyun, and Monsta X finds out about the groups little. Would you prefer the other group to find out about Kihyun first, and then tell Monsta X that they also have a little or the other way around?

Hyunwoo smiled as Kihyun and Minhyuk jumped around the dorm, giggling and playing around, excited about the day to come.

It had been difficult, and it had taken quite some time. Hoseok had been the one to suggest it.

“They’re always inside, and I know they don’t mind and that it’s enough for them to play around the dorm, but… imagine them outside, Hyunwoo! It would be so adorable, and they’d be so happy!”

Hyunwoo had to agree. Kihyun and Minhyuk always stayed inside when they were in little space, and the leader couldn’t even imagine how happy they would be to go out and play outside. But. This was dangerous. They weren’t the most famous group in Korea, but they were very easily recognized. They couldn’t risk taking the boys out while they were in little space. There was too much of a risk of someone seeing them playing and taking a video or a photo, it was too dangerous.

“You know we can’t take them out, Seok.”

He reasoned. Hoseok pouted, and Hyunwoo internally snorted. Hoseok was so childish; the leader wouldn’t be surprised if the boy was also a little.

“Can’t we try? We could go somewhere that we can rent, so that there’s no risk of anyone seeing us.”

Hyunwoo closed his eyes, trying to put his thoughts in order.

“Ok, how about this: I’ll talk to manager and see what we can arrange. Ok?”

Hoseok smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Hyunwoo.”

He said, hugging the taller boy before jumping away, no doubt in search of his boyfriend. Hyunwoo laughed and took his phone.

 

The manager hadn’t asked why they needed a secluded place without cameras or other people around. Hyunwoo was pretty sure the man had an agreement with himself to not question them, because he knew his life would be much easier like this, and for that Hyunwoo was glad.

He had put down a condition, though. They weren’t a new group. They had quite some time on their backs, and yet… and yet they had never gotten a first place. In anything. It was something that no one in the group talked about, but that always hung in the air after yet another comeback in which they failed to get the damned prize.

It affected all of them, but Hoseok and Hyunwoo were the ones who took it the worst. Hoseok – and that was a known fact – was the most sensitive among the group. He cried easily, got upset easily, got pissed easily, got happy easily. He was an emotional person, and when it came to their fans it was ten times worse. So it wasn’t a surprise that every time they didn’t get the first place he locked himself away, not eating properly for days, until they managed to get him back on his feet.

And Hyunwoo… Hyunwoo was the leader. He was the one responsible for the others. He should take care of his band mates, protect them and lead them to a successful career. And every time they came back to another scolding about how the time was passing and they weren’t advancing, he felt guilty about not managing to protect the other.

So this was their manager’s condition. They wouldn’t rest until they got their first win. When they did it, they could have a whole week off, to do whatever they pleased, and one day to spend as they wished away from the public eye. And Hyunwoo agreed to it.

 

He could barely remember anything after their name was announced. There was a lot of screaming and people cheering and clapping, and then he was handed a microphone and he had to speak, and he didn’t even remember if he’d actually said anything. Hoseok hadn’t been able to speak, Kihyun was in tears, Changkyun looked absolutely shocked, and honestly, he couldn’t remember the others’ reactions.

The feeling of shock and happiness lasted for hours, and Hyunwoo was pretty sure none of them actually slept that night, despite how exhausted they were.

Hyunwoo had only remembered his deal with the manager on the next day, when the man congratulated them and said that he was happy to finally be able to give them the rest they deserved. Him, Hoseok and Hyungwon had been in the living room when the man showed up.

“Starting today, you have a free week.” Said the manager, smiling at the wide eyes of the three boys. “I’ve rented a pool for tomorrow, only you will have access to it for the whole day. And if you wanted somewhere secluded, I suggest going to this place. It’s a beach, but very few people know about it, and the chance of someone being there is very small. Congratulations, kids. You’ve done well.”

And with that, the man had left, leaving all of them with equal faces of shock and excitement.

“Hyunwoo…”

Started Hoseok. The leader nodded.

“After the amount of stress we just had to go through, Kihyunnie is probably already in little space, and Minhyukie will fall easily. We can take them out.”

Hoseok squealed, hugging Hyunwoo. Hyungwon had a fairly controlled reaction, but he too was smiling widely.

 

“Kihyunnie, come here, baby.”

Kihyun laughed and ran away, making Hoseok roll his eyes. They had to get the littles dressed for their day at the pool. Their toys were already ready in a bag. Thankfully, they had water appropriate toys that they used during bath time. The food was ready too, and the drinks, everything. Now it was only a matter of calming Kihyun and Minhyuk down enough to get them on their swimming clothes and out of the house.

“He’s giving you a hard time, too?”

Asked Hyunwoo, who was sweating slightly. Hoseok snorted.

“You could say that.”

Minhyuk and Kihyun passed them by, running, and Hoseok groaned.

“Ok, this is not working.” Then he looked around, spotting Kihyun’s toy rabbit, and picked it up, raising his voice. “What is it, Flopsy? You’re sad cause Kihyun won’t get dressed? It’s ok, we can just go without him, right?”

It took about three seconds for Hoseok to be attacked by a running Kihyun. The boy stopped in front of him, eyes wide and lower lip trembling.

“A-appa leave Kiyunnie?”

He asked. Hoseok ruffled his hair.

“Hum, I guess we can take you, if you put on your clothes.”

Kihyun immediately nodded, trying to take of his pyjamas hurriedly. Hoseok laughed and stopped him.

“Calm down, Kihyunnie. You’re too little to do that, let appa help, yeah?”

Kihyun nodded and stayed still for the first time since he heard about their day trip. Hoseok happily started changing the boy into the right clothes. Minhyuk, seeing his partner in crime subdued, pouted and made his was to Hyunwoo.

“Papa, I want to go to.”

He whined. Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Can you change on your own or do you need help?”

Minhyuk looked at the clothes Hyunwoo was offering, seeming to think about.

“Help?”

Hyunwoo smiled. He loved it when Minhyuk asked for his help in little space. It made him feel wanted and useful.

While Kihyun didn’t seem to care about being undressed in the middle of the room, – he was probably feeling quite little, then – Minhyuk insisted on going to the bathroom. Hyunwoo laughed to himself. Their littles were adorable.

 

After that, it didn’t take long for them to be ready to go. They headed to the van and made sure Kihyun and Minhyuk were buckled in, before finally – finally – leaving. It was quite a trip, one hour and a half, and Kihyun and Minhyuk were excitedly talking to each other. They sang, they played, and they even fought and stayed about five minutes without talking to each other, until Minhyuk decided he was a big boy and apologized. And then they sang again.

When they arrived at the place, Hyunwoo went in first, leading the two excited littles inside. Minhyuk was running around him, and Kihyun was gripping his hand tightly, a big smile on his face. When they finally arrived at the pool, both littles stopped, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

“Papa! It’s huge!”

It really was. It was a gigantic pool, with lots of space around it, and it had diving boards, some very low and some very high. There was a shallow part on the pool, where they probably could stand with their heads above water level. He glanced at Kihyun. Well. Most of them.

“It is, hum? Why don’t you get ready while we wait for the others?”

Minhyuk excitedly nodded and started taking off his shirt and his shorts. Hyunwoo knew he would take a while on that, because of how excited he was. He looked at Kihyun. The boy was chewing hard on his lip, a frown on his face. Hyunwoo frowned.

“Are you ok, bug?” Kihyun looked at him and shook his head. Hyunwoo searched his pocket and took out one of Kihyun’s pacifiers, gently taking the boy’s lip from between his teeth and offering it to the little. Kihyun gladly accepted. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Kihyun sniffed.

“S-scawed.”

He mumbled. Hyunwoo’s eyes softened.

“Ah, bug, you don’t need to be scared. Appa and Daddy will be here with you, and Honey, Hyuhyu, and Wonwon too. Plus, you have Minmin with you.”

Kihyun seemed to consider it.

“Kiyunnie stay with Hyuhyu?”

He asked. The leader smiled and nodded.

“Of course, bug. Now c’mon, let’s get you ready.”

He said, proceeding to take off Kihyun’s shirt. He was finishing helping the boy when the others entered the pool space.

“Oh, wow, this is huge!”

Hyunwoo laughed at Hoseok’s reaction, which had been identical to Minhyuk’s.

“Wonwon hyung!”

Yelled Minhyuk, running to Hyungwon, who was the one carrying the toys.

The next minutes were a mess of the other settling down around the pool and getting ready to swim and Minhyuk running around, excited to enter the water. When everything and everyone was finally ready, the leader picked up Kihyun, who had been quiet until then, and gave him to Changkyun. The boy immediately clung to the maknae.

“Ok, before we go in. Minmin, can you put these on for papa?”

Minhyuk scrunched his nose at the floaties.

“But I don’t want to.”

He whined. Hyunwoo didn’t budge.

“You have to wear them, Min. otherwise you can’t go in.”

Minhyuk huffed, but he was too excited about swimming to let this stop him. He let Hyunwoo put the floaties on him and then dragged the first person he could grab, who ended up being Hyungwon, right into the water. The others laughed as the tall boy fell gracelessly into the pool, but the boy took only a second to recover, before he was laughing with them and splashing a giggling Minhyuk.

Hyunwoo didn’t take long to enter the water, along with Jooheon and Hoseok. But Changkyun was looking at Kihyun, who was eyeing the water suspiciously. The leader noticed, but decided that it would be better to not draw attention to that.

“Hey, Kihyunnie. Don’t you want to go in?”

Asked the maknae. Kihyun shook his head quickly, then buried his face on Changkyun’s chest. The maknae was stuck somewhere between finding Kihyun’s reaction adorable and wanting to encourage the boy. It was very… toddler-like of Kihyun to be scared of swimming in such a big pool. And it was adorable. But this was a day for him and Minhyuk to finally play outside the dorm, and Changkyun wanted the boy to have fun. So he pried Kihyun’s face from his chest.

“How about we do it like this. We’ll give you floaties just like Minhyuk’s, then you see how appa can stand right there? Well, you can stay in appa’s lap for as long as you want. What do you think?”

Kihyun tried to bite on his lip, before noticing his pacifier was still in his mouth. He sighed, and Changkyun would never stopped being amazed at how much the pacifier calmed Kihyun down.

“Fwopsy come?”

Changkyun almost said no. The stuffed bunny would get all wet, then they’d have to wash it, and… but then Kihyun was looking at him, eyes wide and pleading, and he sighed.

“Sure, baby. Now let’s get those floaties.”

Changkyun got Kihyun ready, then sat the boy by the pool, Kihyun’s feet inside the water. The little whined, but after a while got used to it. Changkyun then entered the water, making Kihyun whimper.

“Hey, it’s ok, baby. Look.”

Said the maknae, going underwater and coming back up. Kihyun sighed in relief, but his hold on Flopsy was still incredibly tight. Changkyun called Hoseok over.

“Kihyunnie, daddy can’t reach the floor, so he can’t hold you. But appa can, look! So he will stay with you, ok? Can you do that?”

Kihyun nodded and Changkyun gave him a little kiss on the cheek, before swimming to where Minhyuk was racing against Jooheon. Hoseok smiled at Kihyun.

“Hey, baby. Want to come in?” He thought Kihyun would deny, but instead, the little nodded his head slowly. Hoseok smiled brightly and extended his hands. “C’mon, jump! Appa will catch you, promise.”

Kihyun swallowed hard, then closed his eyes tightly and pushed the edge of the pool. Hoseok laughed to himself at the adorableness of the scene. He caught Kihyun before the water reached the boy’s chest, and Kihyun immediately wrapped his legs around Hoseok’s waist.

“Kiyunnie doed it, appa!”

Squealed the little, opening his eyes.

“Yes, baby, you did! Good job!”

Kihyun smiled, bringing Flopsy closer to his chest. Hoseok played with him for a while, making Flopsy swim and dive, while the others played in the middle of the pool.

 

“Papa! Look, I can make bubbles!”

Hyunwoo watched, amused, as Minhyuk put his face underwater and made bubbles with his nose, before coming back up, hair covering his eyes, a big smile on his face. Hyunwoo clapped.

“That was amazing, Minmin!”

Minhyuk smiled proudly, then proceeded to do it again, making Hyunwoo laugh.

“Hey, what are you two doing?”

Asked Jooheon, approaching the two boys. Minhyuk beamed at him.

“Look, Honey hyung!”

He said, proceeding to showcase his newest ability. Jooheon laughed at how excited the boy was.

“That’s so cool! Can you teach me?”

Minhyuk looked so proud, Hyunwoo wished he had his phone with him. The little started teaching the rapper the complicated process of making bubbles underwater, and Jooheon failed again and again, making Minhyuk laugh and correct him happily. Hyunwoo let his gaze wander and raised his eyebrow as he spotted Hoseok and Kihyun.

 

Kihyun seemed to be having fun, playing with Hoseok and Flopsy, but the older caught the little glancing at the others, want clear in his eyes. He waited for the boy to say something, not wanting to push him, and soon he was rewarded with a shy request.

“Appa… we go thewe?”

Hoseok hummed.

“We can, but you have to let go of me.”

Kihyun frowned.

“No, scawy.”

He whimpered. He’d been clinging to Hoseok ever since he entered the pool, not even getting his face wet.

“I know it’s scary, Kihyunnie, but appa is right here. I won’t let anything happen to you, ok? Look, let’s try here. Can we?”

Kihyun hesitated but nodded. Hoseok started slow. First he lowered himself, getting water up to Kihyun’s chin, before the little whimpered and he stood back up.

“No, appa, scawy.”

Hoseok cooed.

“Don’t worry, baby. Remember what appa said? Just hold your breath.”

Kihyun nodded, and Hoseok once again lowered himself. This time, he got both of them underwater for a second before standing back up. He laughed as Kihyun’s pink hair covered his eyes. The boy shook his head, like a puppy trying to get rid of water, then giggled.

“Appa, fun!”

Hoseok grinned.

“It was fun, right?”

Kihyun nodded.

“Again, again!”

Hoseok laughed and did it again a few times, until Kihyun was giggling non-stop, cheeks red from laughing.

“See? Wasn’t so scary, was it?” Kihyun shook his head. “Now try letting go of appa. I’ll hold your hand all the time, don’t worry. Use your legs like this.”

He instructed, using his own legs to show Kihyun. The little nodded, and slowly disentangled himself from Hoseok. He moved his legs around, not exactly graceful, but the scene was adorable. Hoseok noticed Hyungwon had gotten out of the pool and was taking pictures and grinned. He’d ask for those later.

“Look, appa! Kiyunnie doing it!”

Hoseok looked and indeed, Kihyun was swimming on his own. Of course, the floaties helped, and so did the way the little was gripping Hoseok’s hand, but considering how scared the boy had been, this was fantastic.

“Good job, baby! You made it! Now let’s go, I bet Minmin wants to play with you.”

 

Minhyuk and Kihyun were having the time of their lives. Kihyun had given up on his pacifier when it fell from his mouth and sunk down for the third time, and was now engrossed in playing. They had already played with toy cars – Hyunwoo had lost count of the number of times he’d had to dive to retrieve a toy car from the bottom of the pool –, had a water war – that involved everyone –, and searched the pool for a hidden treasure. Kihyun didn’t go too far from Hoseok or Changkyun, but at least he was swimming alone, without even holding his caregivers hands.

At the moment, they were trying to convince Hyungwon to play shark with them. Meaning that Hyungwon would swim after them, pretending to be a shark, while they ran away. Hyungwon was holding his ground, but Hyunwoo knew he soon would give up and play, because none of them could resist the littles’ puppy eyes.

“Ok, ok. You better run, I’m a very mean shark, and I’m hungry!”

Hyunwoo laughed as Kihyun and Minhyuk squealed and started swimming away, Minhyuk holding Kihyun’s wrist to help the boy go faster. Hyunwoo watched them, laughing, and soon Jooheon joined Hyungwon, chasing the littles around. It was fun. Hyunwoo wished they could always do stuff like that.

 

They stopped for a while to eat, then Changkyun convinced Kihyun to take a nap, because the boy was sleepy. They managed to keep Minhyuk out of the water for about half an hour after eating, and then the boy was back on the water.

“Papa! Can I jump from the diving board?”

Hyunwoo evaluated the diving boards, before shrugging.

“Sure, love. But only the lower one, ok? If I see you near the others, then I won’t let you jump from anywhere. Ok?”

Minhyuk nodded and rushed to the diving boards, climbing on the smaller one. He looked down and frowned.

“Papa! C-can you stay here to catch me?”

Hyunwoo smiled. Minhyuk could be older than Kihyun, in little space, but he was still a kid.

“Sure, love. Now c’mon, I want to see a beautiful jump!”

Minhyuk nodded, then started jumping up and down, before jumping on the pool. Hyunwoo let him sink, knowing he would just hurt them if he did catch the boy, then pulled the boy up as soon as he could. Minhyuk was laughing delighted.

“Papa, did you see? I jumped really high!”

Hyunwoo laughed.

“Of course I saw. You’re almost professional, baby.”

Minhyuk smiled and rushed to jump again.

 

Kihyun woke up after a while, and joined Minhyuk, although he didn’t jump from the diving boards, but he clapped and cheered Minhyuk on, and in turn, Minhyuk taught him how to make bubbles underwater. Not that it worked, Kihyun couldn’t seem to get it, but what counted was the thought.

It was already 6pm, when the littles started getting tired. Minhyuk had insisted in taking off his floaties, and was now floating with the help of Hoseok. Kihyun had clung to Hyungwon, sleepily playing with Flopsy. Hyunwoo decided it was time to go back.

Slowly, they gathered everything: toys, food remains, bottles of water and juice, sippy cups, everything. Hyungwon got Kihyun out of the water without much difficulty, taking off the boy’s wet clothes and dressing him on dry ones. Kihyun was too sleepy to care about who was watching him and who wasn’t. He let Hyungwon change him, then raised his hands, asking to be picked up.

Minhyuk also got out without much fuss, asking to jump from the trampoline one last time. Once he did, he got out and let Hyunwoo dry him, then let himself be taking to the changing room to change.

“Wonwon, paci?”

Asked Kihyun. Hyungwon looked at Hoseok, questioningly, and the older passed him the boy’s pacifier. Hyungwon put it in Kihyun’s mouth and the boy sighed, closing his eyes. Hoseok approached them.

“Hey, baby boy. Did you have fun?”

The little just nodded, already half-asleep.

“Was fun, appa.”

He mumbled. Hoseok smiled fondly.

“That’s good. What about you, Wonnie?”

Hyungwon smiled at his boyfriend and pecked his lips.

“It was nice, hyung. And now I get to spend time with you.”

He said, gesturing at how Kihyun was already asleep. Hoseok laughed.

 

They made their way outside, putting the two sleeping littles in the car and making their way back home. They were all tired, but the day had been one of the best days of their lives. Hyunwoo smiled as he drove them back. They were all weird, confusing and unusual, but they were his family, and he loved all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys like it?


	31. Chapter 31

I'm sorry, guys, I need a break. I'm not good at handling confrontation and my anxiety is acting up. I'm really sorry. I love this story and I love writing it. hopefully, I won't be gone for too long. I just need a little time to myself to think.

I'll really try to be back as soon as possible, maybe I just need a few days. I hope you guys don't give up on me or this story while I'm gone >.<

Love you <3


	32. Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back ^.^ I hope, at least... Anyways, not sure about this chapter cause I'm getting used to writing again.
> 
> (I'm also taking requests) 
> 
> If you want to scream with me about groups on twitter, here it is: https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357
> 
> I like so many boy groups that you can fangirl/boy with me about a lot of them hahahah

“Hey.”

Hyunwoo looked up from his book, nodding at Hoseok in greeting.

“Hey. You need anything?”

Hoseok smiled.

“Kind of. I was wondering, do you think the boys will still be little tomorrow?”

Hyunwoo hummed.

“I don’t know. I think Ki will. Not sure about Minhyukie.”

Hoseok nodded.

“That’s what I thought, too. I was thinking we could go to that beach manager told us about.”

Hyunwoo frowned, trying to remember, then smiled.

“Oh, they would surely love that.”

Hoseok laughed, nodding. He could picture Minhyun and Kihyun playing in the sand happily, making castles and digging roles to pretend they were pools. It would be nice.

“Yeah, they would. What do you think?”

The leader sighed.

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s safe?”

Hoseok shrugged.

“I think so. Or manager wouldn’t have told us about it. We can give it a try.”

Hyunwoo nodded.

“Ok, then. Tell the others, so that we can go early tomorrow.”

Hoseok smiled and nodded.

 

On the next day, they got Kihyun and Minhyuk dressed and ready for the day before the two littles were fully awake. They knew, from the previous day, that it would save a lot of time. By the time Kihyun managed to fully open his eyes and understand what was going on, Hoseok was already carrying him to the kitchen to have breakfast.

“Appa? Whewe we going?”

Hoseok ruffled the boy’s hair, sitting Kihyun down and putting his bib on.

“Morning, baby. We’re going to the beach today.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened comically.

“Beach? Weally, appa?”

Hoseok nodded excitedly. Kihyun squealed.

“Kiyunnie like the beach! T-there’s fishies, a-and sand, and mer… mer… fishies that awe people too!”

Hoseok laughed, taking Kihyun’s food and feeding the boy once he noticed Kihyun wouldn’t do it on his own.

“Mermaids?”

Kihyun nodded enthusiastically, chewing on his food.

Minhyuk entered the room, pulling Hyunwoo by the hand.

“Kihyunnie! We are going to the beach!”

Kihyun clapped, nodding, and Minhyuk jumped around him, singing that they were going to the beach. Hoseok turned to Hyunwoo, who was staring incredulously at the littles.

“How in hell do they have so much energy?”

Hoseok snorted. That was indeed a good question.

They finished breakfast and got everything they needed, and soon the seven boys were heading to the beach.

 

It took almost an hour to get to the location. Kihyun and Minhyuk’s singing made the trip seem longer. Nonetheless, soon they were getting out, Hoseok handling the two littles while the others got everything from the car.

“Now, pay attention, you two. The beach is different from the pool, so you have to be careful, ok? Stay where we can see you at all times, don’t run off without us, and always obey. Don’t go into the water alone, tell us if you want to go in and we’ll go with you. Understood?”

The two littles nodded, but Hoseok could see they had no interest in listening to him at the moment. He sighed. They’d have to keep an eye on them.

The seven boys headed towards the sand, and, like their manager had said, found no one around. It was a small beach, with beautiful clear water and soft sand, and it looked beautiful. Hoseok smiled. This would be a good place to go to some other time, when the other two weren’t feeling little.

They settled down near the water and went through the painful process of applying sunscreen on the littles. Kihyun was more well behaved, easily distracted by his toys as Changkyun made sure he was protected all over. Minhyuk… well, Hoseok and Hyungwon were having a nice time laughing at Hyunwoo, who was running after a giggling Minhyuk and trying to get him to quieten down a little.

Soon, though, everyone was ready and Minhyuk was pulling Kihyun by the hand to help him build a castle. The other five watched, smiling, as both boys settled down near the water, their beach bucket set by their side, and started working on the sand.

It was peaceful for a while. About twenty minutes. Then there was water dripping on Hyunwoo’s stomach, startling the leader. He looked up at the giggling little and rolled his eyes.

“Hello, Minhyukie.”

The boy smiled and Kihyun giggled behind him.

“Hi, papa. Kihyunnie wanted to go on the water.”

Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Did he?” Minhyuk nodded. “Hum, and what about you?”

The little shrugged exaggeratedly.

“Well, I can’t let him go alone. It could be dangerous.”

Hyunwoo laughed.

“Yes, of course. That’s so nice of you, love.” Minhyuk beamed at him. “Guys, where are their floaties?”

Hoseok looked up from his phone, laughing before searching his bag and handing the floaties to Hyunwoo. And then Minhyuk whined.

“But, papa, I don’t need them.”

He pouted. Hyunwoo sighed.

“Baby, the sea is different from the pool. It’s more difficult to swim here.”

Minhyuk grimaced and stomped his foot.

“I don’t want it. They’re for babies.”

Behind him, Kihyun whined.

“Kiyunnie no want.”

He crossed his arms too. Hyunwoo rubbed his temple.

“Babies, no floaties means not going on the water.”

Minhyuk’s frown deepened and Hyunwoo could see a tantrum coming.

“I’m not a baby! I don’t need floaties! I can swim, I was swimming yesterday!”

Hyunwoo closed his eyes, trying to keep calm. Then Jooheon piped up.

“Hyung. I can go on the water with them. Then I can keep an eye on Minhyukie.”

Hyunwoo opened his eyes and looked at the rapper. Then sighed.

“Ok. But as soon as Jooheon is out you have to come out too, understood?”

Minhyuk nodded happily.

“Kihyun is not going on the water without his floaties, hyung.”

Hyunwoo turned to Changkyun. The boy was shaking his head. The leader nodded.

“I wasn’t planning on it, don’t worry. Kihyunnie, come on.”

But Kihyun scrunched up his nose.

“No want.”

Hyunwoo raised an eyebrow.

“Kihyunnie, you wore them yesterday.”

Kihyun shook his head.

“Kiyunnie no baby.”

Hyunwoo stared. Then he glared at Minhyuk. The little pouted.

“It’s not my fault, papa.”

Hyunwoo shook his head.

“Of course it isn’t. Kihyunnie, Minmin is going without the floaties because he’s older and he can swim without them. You wore them to the pool yesterday, why can’t you wear them now?”

“Minmin sayed floaties awe for babies. Kiyunnie no baby.”

He stomped his foot, clearly trying to imitate Minhyuk. The older little huffed.

“Kihyunnie, you’re too little, you need the floaties. I don’t need them because I’m a big boy.”

This made Kihyun pout more. Hyunwoo watched, hoping the situation wouldn’t worsen.

“Kiyunnie big boy too.”

Screamed the little. Minhyuk shook his head.

“No, you’re not.”

And then Kihyun’s lower lip was trembling and Changkyun was rushing to him, picking him up as Kihyun started crying. Hyunwoo glared at Minhyuk. The boy pouted.

“Why did you say that, Minhyukie?”

“Sorry, papa.”

Hyunwoo sighed.

“Stay here. Don’t you dare move, mister.”

And saying that he left Minhyuk on the sand to go after Changkyun.

It took a while to calm Kihyun down, but they managed. Changkyun was good at distracting the boy, and Kihyun responded well to compliments. All it took was some reassurance that they knew that he was a big boy and that Minhyuk didn’t mean what he’d said, and Kihyun finally stopped his cries. But as they settled back on the sand, the little crossed his arms.

“But Kiyunnie no wear floaties, daddy.”

Changkyun rubbed his temple. Minhyuk and Jooheon were already in the water, he’d hoped Kihyun’s eagerness to join them would convince him to wear the goddamn floaties.

“Kihyunnie…”

Hoseok interrupted.

“I’ll go with him, Kyun. Then he won’t have to wear them.”

The maknae didn’t seem too convinced.

“It’s dangerous, hyung. Kihyunnie can’t swim. Even when he isn’t little.”

Hoseok shrugged.

“I don’t see any other option. C’mon, it’ll be ok.”

Changkyun looked at the little who was staring at him expectantly. Then he sighed.

“Ok. But be careful.”

Kihyun squealed in delight and ran to Hoseok, pulling on his hand.

“Appa, go, go!”

Hoseok laughed and let himself be pulled up, following the little to the water.

At first, Changkyun couldn’t look away. But after fifteen minutes of absolutely nothing happening, he started calming down. Maybe he was too protective.

Hoseok, on the sea, made sure to stay on the shallow part, where the water only hit Kihyun’s waist. Or his chest, if he sat down. The little didn’t seem to mind, happily splashing around.

“Appa, underwater?”

Hoseok understood the request and helped the little go fully underwater, coming back up two seconds later. The boy was giggling, and the sight was adorable. Then Minhyuk swam up to them.

“Kihyunnie, where are your floaties?”

The younger shook his head.

“Kiyunnie no need floaties.”

Minhyuk opened his mouth, but closed it again at Hoseok’s glare. Jooheon, noticing the exchange, spoke up.

“Hey, why don’t we play a fun game?”

 

They played for a good hour, before Jooheon claimed he was tired and got out. Minhyuk pouted and whined, but as soon as Hyunwoo approached to see what the problem was the little was out of the water, smiling angelically. Hoseok stayed a little longer, watching the way Kihyun seemed in awe of the sea. The boy was sitting on his lap, giggling at the waves that hit him, and burying his hand on the sand just to see it move around.

“Kihyunnie, can we go out a bit? If we stay any longer we’ll be looking like two dry plums.”

Kihyun giggled and nodded.

“Daddy cawy Kiyunnie?”

Hoseok nodded and stood up, picking up the boy. They joined the others. Minhyuk was near them, making some kind of elaborate fort on the sand.

“Kihyunnie, want to go play with Minhyukie?”

Kihyun nodded eagerly.

“Paci?”

He asked. Changkyun was faster than Hoseok, handing Kihyun his ‘little one’ pacifier. The little happily accepted it and went of to join Minhyuk.

 

Things were calm for a while. The two littles were playing together happily and the other five were enjoying the peace. After so much hard work and tiring schedules it was nice to finally be able to relax a bit. Hyunwoo felt happy seeing his members content, resting and having fun, and he would be happy to just watch them the whole day. However, he was tired, too, and before he noticed it his eyes were closing and he was asleep.

Hoseok noticed the leader slowly falling asleep and smiled. Hyunwoo worked so hard all the time, making sure all of them were well and taken care of. He deserved the rest. So he adjusted the parasol to cover the leader better and smiled as Hyunwoo sighed contentedly in his sleep. Someone nudged him and Hoseok looked up, a smile taking his face as he saw whom it was.

“Hey, babe.”

Hoseok opened his arms and Hyungwon snuggled against him.

“Hey. Enjoying your day?”

Hyungwon hummed.

“Hum, a little kid stole my boyfriend for a while there, but now he’s back, so it’s good.”

Hoseok chuckled.

“Are you jealous of Kihyunnie?”

He teased. Hyungwon laughed.

“Dying of jealousy.”

Hoseok pulled the younger closer and kissed him softly.

“Stupid.”

He mumbled, smiling. Hyungwon just laughed and kissed back.

“Can we go somewhere to be alone for a while?” Hoseok raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and Hyungwon snorted. “Not like that, you pervert. I just want to spend time with you.”  
Hoseok laughed and got up.

“Let’s take a walk, c’mon.” Hyungwon smiled and got up, holding his boyfriend’s hand. “Guys, we’ll go for a walk. Can you watch the kids?”

Jooheon and Changkyun looked up from their book and phone, respectively, and nodded.

“Sure, go be gross somewhere else, hyungs.”

Hyungwon gave Jooheon the finger and the rapper laughed.

“Enjoy babysitting.”

Teased Hyungwon, although none of them really minded taking care of the littles. Changkyun waved him away and the pair left, leaving the two maknaes alone with the littles.

 

Honestly, all of them should have known better than to let Minhyuk and Kihyun play alone with only two people around when Minhyuk was in the mood he was in.

As soon as Hoseok and Hyungwon left, Minhyuk smirked. He was bored; him and Kihyun had already made and remade the damned castle a thousand times. He wanted to play on the water, but he didn’t want to wear those stupid floaties or have someone with him the whole time. What was the fun in that? He was a big boy; he could do things on his own.

So when the couple left, Minhyuk glanced at the two left behind and came to the conclusion it was time to put his plan into action. He looked at Kihyun. That would be the hardest part. Kihyun was way too good to break the rules on his own, and Minhyuk knew he couldn’t leave the boy alone. If he did, Kihyun would get bored and go ask the others to play, and that would give Minhyuk away. So he had to convince Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie, hey.” The boy looked at him, tilting his head. “Do you want to go in the water?”

Kihyun’s face lit up.

“Yes! Kiyunnie want! We ask Honey and daddy?”

Minhyuk shook his head.

“Shh, you’ve got to be silent. Don’t you want to play on your own?”

Kihyun frowned.

“Only Kiyunnie and Minmin?” Minhyuk nodded eagerly. Kihyun shook his head. “But Minmin and Kiyunnie no go in the water alone. Or, or with no floaties.”

Said Kihyun. Minhyuk rolled his eyes.

“If you’re too much of a baby to swim without floaties you can stay. I want to play in the water.”

Kihyun pouted and crossed his arms and Minhyuk knew he’d done it.

“Kiyunnie no baby! Kihyunie go too!”

Minhyuk smiled.

“I knew you’d say that. Let’s go!”

 

Changkyun took an embarrassingly long time to notice that it was too silent in the beach. The noise of Minhyuk and Kihyun playing had been so constant that he’d drowned it out. So when it stopped, Changkyun didn’t notice immediately. When he did notice, though, he didn’t even have the time to check what was wrong, because there was scream loud enough to wake Hyunwoo up.

Jooheon dropped his book and Hyunwoo sat up, startled. Changkyun felt the blood leave his face. He looked to his left, to where the littles should be playing, even though he knew he wouldn’t find them there.

“What…?”

Started, Hyunwoo, but Changkyun had already spotted Minhyuk coming out of the water and was running towards the boy.

“Minhyuk! What the…?” He decided he could scold Minhyuk later when he noticed Kihyun was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Kihyunnie?”

Minhyuk had tears in his eyes.

“W-we didn’t know it would get deep…”

He said, shaking. Changkyun could feel panic rising on his chest, but tried to stay calm. Jooheon and Hyunwoo were running towards them. The maknae looked at the sea in front of him and his heart dropped.

“Fuck. Fuck, oh my god.”

He was about to enter the water when a hand on his arm stopped him.

“Kyun, hey, breathe. You can’t go in there like this, you’re panicking. Plus, Kihyunnie is too big for you to pull him out. Stay here.”

Hyunwoo’s words made sense, but Changkyun couldn’t think anything other than ‘get to Kihyun.’

“Let me go! He’s drowning! He’s going to die!”

Jooheon took Changkyun by the arm, hugging him. The maknae didn’t even notice Hyunwoo was no longer by his side on the sand, too busy trashing against Jooheon.

“Kyun, hey, breathe. Kihyunnie is not going to die. Hyunwoo hyung will get him. Please breathe, Kyun, you’ll make yourself sick.”

Jooheon’s voice sounded desperate, and there was someone crying next to them, and Changkyun still wanted to throw himself in the water and get Kihyun out of there no matter what. But he forced himself to calm down and breathe. Slowly, he came back to his senses. Jooheon sighed and let him go. Immediately he looked around.

Hyunwoo was almost reaching where Kihyun had been, but there was no sign of the younger boy in the water. Changkyun felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart. By his side, Minhyuk was crying and mumbling ‘sorry’, But Changkyun barely noticed.

“W-where…?”

Jooheon held his hand.

“It’s ok. He’ll be ok. Hyunwoo will get him out.”

But Jooheon was shaking, and Changkyun noticed that he wasn’t the only one panicking.

“Hyung…”

Jooheon only held his hand tighter. Then Hyunwoo disappeared between waves and both boys held their breaths.

And then the leader reappeared, and Changkyun squeezed Jooheon’s hand even more, if that was even possible, because Hyunwoo was carrying someone.

The wait for the leader to reach them seemed enormous, even though it was barely three minutes. As soon as the boy reached the shallow part the other two rushed to him. Changkyun held the leader before he collapsed and Jooheon took Kihyun from him. The boy’s eyes were closed and for a second Changkyun thought he wasn’t breathing. Then Jooheon picked the boy up, sitting Kihyun on his hips, and the little inhaled sharply, coughing afterwards.

Changkyun felt his knees shaking and almost giving out, but he couldn’t just fall with Hyunwoo still leaning against him. Jooheon cried out, hugging Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie, oh my god, baby. Are you ok?”

Kihyun sniffed, still coughing a bit.

“Appa. Daddy.”

He cried, clinging to Jooheon so hard it hurt. The rapper didn’t complain, he just pulled the little closer.

“Kyun. Go.”

Said Hyunwoo, standing up straight, still panting but seeming better than a few moments ago. Changkyun wanted to make sure the leader was alright, but he knew the best option was to comfort Kihyun.

“Baby…”

Kihyun immediately turned to him, making grabby hands, tears running down his cheeks. Changkyun picked him up and Jooheon went to check on Hyunwoo.

“Daddy.”

Was all the little said, hugging Changkyun. The maknae buried his face on the boy’s hair.

“Baby, I was so scared I’d lost you. Don’t you ever do anything like that again, do you hear me?”

Kihyun sobbed, nodding. 

“W-was scawed, daddy.”

Changkyun caressed his hair, shushing the boy.

“Shh, you’re safe now, baby. Daddy won’t let anything happen to you ever again, ok?”

Kihyun sniffed.

“A-appa?”

Changkyun looked around. He could see Hoseok and Hyungwon making their way towards them.

“Hyungs, I’ll go meet Hoseok hyung and Hyungwon hyung. Are you two ok?”

Both boys nodded. Hyunwoo had sat down on the sand and was holding Minhyuk, rocking the boy and comforting him. The little had stopped apologizing, but he was still crying. Changkyun wanted to comfort him too, but he knew Jooheon and Hyungwon could handle it.

He walked to Hoseok as fast as he could. He sighed as he noticed how happy the other two were, hating to scare them and end that happiness, but Kihyun was asking for the older non-stop, and Changkyun knew they’d have to tell them sooner or later.

Hoseok noticed something was wrong from far away, and rushed to Changkyun, Hyungwon following him.

“What happened?”

He asked, but before Changkyun could answer, Kihyun was throwing himself at the older. Luckily, Hoseok had good reflexes and caught the boy, taking him from Changkyun.

“Appa.”

Cried the boy, burying his face on Hoseok’s neck. Hoseok raised an eyebrow. Changkyun sighed.

“We’re not sure, but long story short, Kihyunnie almost drowned. Minhyuk convinced him to go on the water alone, probably, and that’s the result.”

Hoseok frowned.

“But what…? You know what, it doesn’t matter. Is everyone ok?”

Changkyun nodded. He admired Hoseok for letting it go like that. There was no point in blaming anyone, accidents happened, and luckily nothing too bad happened this time. They’ve learned their lesson.

“Let’s go back. Minhyuk was really upset when I left.”

Hoseok nodded and started walking, Hyungwon’s arm around his waist. The younger had managed to coax Kihyun out of his hiding spot, somehow, and although Kihyun was far from his giggly happy self at the moment, he looked more relaxed.

 

They didn’t stay much longer at the beach. After making sure everyone was ok they packed their things and left.

Kihyun had fallen asleep on Hyungwon’s lap after drinking a whole bottle of water, and was now peacefully sleeping between Hyungwon and Hoseok, pacifier in his mouth. Minhyuk had come out of little space after Hyunwoo calmed him down and had apologized another thousand times.

The others reassured him that they weren’t mad and that sometimes things happened. It had taken a while, but he’d finally accepted that they weren’t mad and relaxed, falling asleep as well. The mood was still a bit down through the ride, but no one was mad at one another, and Kihyun was safe and well, so Changkyun didn’t think the mood would be bad for too long.

They arrived at the dorm and Changkyun carried Kihyun in, waking the boy up to take a bath. Kihyun let himself be pulled around and bathed, then ate a bit at Changkyun’s insistence, and then he was out again.

The maknae smiled and put the boy to bed.

 

It was two in the morning when Changkyun was woken up by someone poking his cheeks. He opened his eyes and spotted Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie?”

The boy pouted around his pacifier.

“Daddy. Sleep with you?”

Changkyun smiled and lifted his covers. Kihyun rushed to lie down, snuggling close to the maknae.

“Sleep well, baby. Daddy is right care taking care of you.”

Kihyun sighed contentedly.

“Love you, daddy.”

"I love you too, baby."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it good? I'm not too sure, it's been a while....


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short cause it's a bit of a filler chapter
> 
> If you want to scream with me about groups on twitter, here it is: https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357
> 
> I like so many boy groups that you can fangirl/boy with me about a lot of them hahahah

Hoseok was woken up by someone climbing on his bed, giggling and trying – and failing hard – to be silent. So he wasn’t all that surprised, really, when he opened his eyes and Kihyun gasped before yelling ‘Boo!’ in his face. He let a smile take his face at the adorableness of the boy, even if he was currently being crushed under the boy’s weight and probably half deaf.

“Morning, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun smiled and lay down, snuggling against Hoseok.

“Morning, appa.”

Hoseok pulled the boy into a hug, making Kihyun squeal and giggle.

“How is my baby boy this morning?”

Kihyun usually would have wiggled out of Hoseok’s grasp, way too energetic to enjoy cuddling at the moment. Instead, the boy just nosed Hoseok’s cheek like a kitten would do.

“Good, appa. Daddy and Kiyunnie eated pancakes! A-and Kiyunnie maked appa some!”

Hoseok perked up at the mention of food.

“Pancakes, you say?” Kihyun nodded, giggling. “Then what are we doing here? Let’s go!”

Kihyun laughed at Hoseok’s eagerness, then raised his arms. Hoseok picked the boy up, noticing something was a bit different on that day. The two of them headed to the kitchen.

“He managed to get you up, hyung?”

Asked Changkyun, as Hoseok entered the kitchen. The older laughed.

“You know I can’t resist this little bug. Or pancakes.”

Changkyun laughed.

“So it was the pancakes.”

Hoseok laughed and tried to put Kihyun down on his chair so he could sit and eat the pancakes the maknae was bringing over. Except Kihyun didn’t let him. As soon as Hoseok pulled the boy away, Kihyun whined, making grabby hands at the older. Hoseok raised an eyebrow and pulled the younger closer again. Kihyun sighed contentedly.

“Kihyunnie, appa needs to eat. Can you stay in your chair?”

Kihyun shook his head. Hoseok turned to Changkyun.

“Ah, yeah, about that… Kihyunnie is a bit clingier than usual today.”

Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

“A bit?”

Changkyun shrugged.

“Kihyunnie, baby, come with daddy so appa can eat.”

The little hesitated, but extended his arms to the maknae, letting himself be taken away. Hoseok sat down to eat, thinking of the day they’d have ahead. Clingy Kihyun meant a calmer day with lots of cuddling and few toys spread around. But it also meant numb legs and sore arms from carrying him, and someone having to feed the boy before eating. He shrugged. As long as Kihyun was happy he could do anything.

 

Hyunwoo knew something was wrong when it was three in the afternoon and Minhyuk still hadn’t come out of his room.

The day had started normal enough. After the scare from the day before, Kihyun clingier than usual; Hyunwoo had woken up to find the boy cuddling with Hoseok on the couch, sucking on his pacifier and playing with the older’s hair happily. But other than that everything was normal.

Except Minhyuk wasn’t waking up. At first nothing seemed wrong. They usually did wake up later on free days, and the only reason most of them were awake at the moment was Kihyun. But as the day passed and Minhyuk gave no signs of being alive, Hyunwoo started to worry. Until he decided enough was enough and went to check on the younger boy.

 

Minhyuk was lying in his bed, on his phone. Hyunwoo knocked and entered the room, and Minhyuk barely glanced at him before going back to what he was doing.

“Min? You’re awake?”

The boy hummed.

“Hey, hyung.”

Hyunwoo frowned. Something was definitely wrong.

“Are you ok?”

He asked. Minhyuk simply nodded.

Hyunwoo was at a loss of what to do. He wasn’t used to seeing Minhyuk so down and he had no idea why he was acting like that.

“I’m ok, don’t worry. You can go enjoy your day, hyung.”

This only made Hyunwoo more worried. He walked to the younger’s bed and sat down.

“Min, hey. C’mon, what happened?”

Minhyuk sighed.

“Nothing happened, hyung. I’m just tired.”

That was a lie. Hyunwoo knew, and he knew that Minhyuk knew he knew. But he said nothing.

“Can I at least get a kiss from my boyfriend?”

Minhyuk looked up, a weird expression on his face. Then he sighed and sat up, pecking Hyunwoo on the lips.

It was a quick peck, and a second later Minhyuk was trying to lie down again. But Hyunwoo was quicker and held the boy close, bringing him in for a real kiss. At first Minhyuk was tense against him, barely responding, but after a few seconds he sighed and melted into the kiss, going soft under Hyunwoo’s touch.

Once they separated, Hyunwoo hugged the boy tightly, pulling him into his lap.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong, now?”

Minhyuk’s eyes filled with tears, and Hyunwoo held him closer.

“I just… I feel so bad about yesterday, hyung.”

Ah, that. Hyunwoo should have known. He sighed.

“You don’t need to feel bad, Min. What happened yesterday was an accident, and…”

Minhyuk shook his head.

“It wasn’t an accident. I knew we weren’t supposed to go in the water, I knew Ki couldn’t swim. I was selfish and I almost got Kihyun killed!”

Hyunwoo squeezed the boy’s hand.

“Min, hey, stop. It was an accident. You didn’t mean for it to happen. You just wanted to play. You can’t blame yourself for that, things like that happen.”  
Minhyuk didn’t seem too inclined to believe that.

“If I wasn’t so selfish and stupid…”

Hyunwoo interrupted him.

“Can you tell me what happened, exactly? You never told us.”

Minhyuk sighed.

“I got bored of playing in the sand and wanted to play alone in the water, but I knew that if I left Kihyun alone he’d end up telling you guys. So I… I convinced him to go with me. But we were playing in a sandbank and we didn’t notice when it started to disappear and the water got higher, and… and then when we noticed the water was too high, and Ki is shorter than me, so I managed to walk most of the way and then swim the rest, but Ki c-couldn’t, and then he…”

Minhyuk stopped, trying not to cry. Hyunwoo pulled him closer and shushed him.

“Shh, hey, don’t cry. Everything is ok, Ki is safe. Min, you were little. You didn’t really think it would end like that. You really shouldn’t dwell on this. Everything ended up fine, Ki is fine, no one is mad. So don’t torture yourself for this, ok? Kyun and Jooheon should have been paying more attention, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, Hyungwon and Hoseok shouldn’t have left, we should have insisted that Ki wore the floaties, we should have made sure both of you knew the dangers of going in the water alone. You were both little and couldn’t really take care of yourselves, and we didn’t pay enough attention. So don’t blame yourself, ok?”

Minhyuk sniffed, but nodded. Hyunwoo shook his head.

“You have to promise, Min.”

The younger sighed.

“I promise, hyung.”

Hyunwoo smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of Minhyuk’s forehead.

“Great. Now let’s get some food in you and then we can have a day for ourselves, ok?”

A smile took Minhyuk’s face. That sounded great.

 

They spent the afternoon cuddling in the couch. Changkyun had taken Kihyun to their room so they could play there and the others had been nice enough to give the couple some space. Hyunwoo’s heart warmed up at his friends’ kindness.

They settled for a romance movie, at first, something cheesy and stupid, but it didn’t matter. They weren’t paying attention to the movie, more interested in the talk they were having and the small kisses they shared. As the movie ended, Hyunwoo chose another one, without even looking at the title, and pulled Minhyuk closer.

“Min?”

He called. He’d been trying to find the right time to say this, but he always backed off on the last second. This time, though, it felt different. Minhyuk was lying on his chest, completely relaxed, and Hyunwoo couldn’t think of anyone else he’d rather spend his time with.

“Yes?”

Answered the younger, voice soft. Hyunwoo’s breath caught on his throat, but he had to do it. It wasn’t the most romantic of moments, but he could wait for the perfect moment forever without ever finding it, and he’d rather not do that.

“I love you.”

Minhyuk tensed in his arms, then sat up, looking at Hyunwoo in the eyes.

“You… what?”

Hyunwoo’s heart was still trying to beat of his chest, but for some reason he felt a lot calmer than a few seconds earlier. He smiled.

“I love you.”

Minhyuk stared. And stared some more. And then Hyunwoo saw a little smile pulling the corners of his lips up.

“I love you too.”

He said, leaning down to kiss Hyunwoo so enthusiastically that the older couldn’t help but to laugh.

They kissed and kissed, and then kissed some more. Lazy kisses, but at the same time deep and meaningful. It was like they were trying to say those words again and again through gestures. Hyunwoo didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky.

“Min, wait a second, I need to breathe.”

Said Hyunwoo, chuckling as Minhyuk whined.

“Hyung~ breathing is for losers who don’t have the best boyfriend in the world.”

Hyunwoo laughed fondly and pecked the younger’s lips.

“You’ll be one of those if you don’t let me breathe, Min.”

With a sigh, Minhyuk leaned away, pouting.

“I can’t believe you said it first. I was planning on being the first!”

Complained the younger. Hyunwoo chuckled.

“We can always pretend I didn’t say anything.”

He teased. But Minhyuk hummed.

“Ok. I love you.”

Hyunwoo laughed heartily and kissed the younger.

“I love you too.”


	34. Sick Minhyukie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, Sick Minmin with little Kihyunnie taking care of him <333
> 
> If you want to scream with me about groups on twitter, here it is: https://twitter.com/Jasmine07618357
> 
> I like so many boy groups that you can fangirl/boy with me about a lot of them hahahah

The whole situation was built over one simple thing: Jooheon hadn’t told anyone he was going out.

The day was supposed to be a break day, but all of them knew, by now, that ‘break day’ meant almost nothing for the company, most of the time. So it wasn’t a surprise when Hoseok got a call in the morning asking him to head over to the company to discus some of the lyrics he’d sent in. It wasn’t a surprise, either, when half an hour later, Changkyun and Hyungwon were called in, leaving Jooheon, Hyunwoo, Minhyuk and Kihyun alone at home.

On the bright side, Kihyun and Minhyuk weren’t feeling little. It wasn’t rare for them to go into little space on their breaks, and with the way this day was going, if they’d been little it would have been a problem. Obviously, most of the time they could get out of little space with a bit of help and maintain their adult headspace for quite some time. But none of the members liked forcing them to do that.

So, they weren’t feeling little, and that was a plus. Especially when Hyunwoo received a call from their manager to meet with the production team in fifteen minutes. He sighed, turning of the phone. There was no escaping that.

He got ready in five minutes, then went looking for Minhyuk and Kihyun. Both boys were watching something on TV, some kind of action movie that Hyunwoo was pretty sure was in a language neither of them understood.

“Guys, I know neither of you are little right now, but if you feel yourself slipping, go to Jooheon, ok? He should be in his room.”

Kihyun nodded. Minhyuk simply hummed. He’d been weird the whole day, but Hyunwoo didn’t have time now to question it. He headed out.

As the door closed behind himself, something told him leaving the two of them alone was a mistake. He shook his head. They weren’t alone. They had Jooheon, and they weren’t even feeling little or showing signs that they’d be slipping any time soon. They would be ok.

 

Minhyuk knew he shouldn’t hide it when he was feeling sick. They had a rule: never keep important things from each other. That included always telling at least one of the other if they were feeling sick or unwell. But Minhyuk didn’t think it was a big deal. He only had a light headache. And, well, his stomach was a bit sensitive, so he was feeling kind of sick. But it wasn’t like he was dying or really ill. So he decided he could wait for it to pass.

He began to question his decision when Hyunwoo left. Jooheon was still home, and in case Minhyuk felt really bad he could go to the boy. Or even to Kihyun, really. But Hyunwoo passed a sense of security that none of the others did, and as soon as the leader closed the door Minhyuk regretted not saying anything.

He bit his lip, focusing on the TV. His stomach was churning, now, and his head was hurting a lot. He closed his eyes, trying to relax and calm down.

“Min?”

Came Kihyun’s voice. The older opened his eyes a bit, turning to the younger. And then he saw Kihyun’s worried expression and his eyes filled with tears. His lower lip jutted out and began to tremble, and he cursed, because he hadn’t even noticed how little he’d been feeling.

“Kihyunnie…”

He whined. Kihyun’s eyes widened.

“Oh. W-wait a second, Min, I’ll be right back.”

Minhyuk gasped as Kihyun left. Why had he done that? Why did he leave Minhyuk alone? Had Minhyuk done something wrong?

 

Kihyun breathed in deeply. He hadn’t been feeling little that day. Or… well, not too little. He might have considered asking the others for help going into little space, if Hoseok hadn’t left early, followed by Changkyun and Hyungwon. But they had left, and Kihyun felt a bit guilty asking Hyunwoo and Jooheon for it, especially since they might be called in too.

He wasn’t feeling that little, anyways. It was better to avoid little space altogether than to ask for help and then have to force himself out of it if Hyunwoo and Jooheon were called in. Or if he was called in, even.

He hadn’t been counting on Minhyuk going into little space, though. The older had been a bit weird during the day, yes. He was quieter than usual and had settled for watching TV with Kihyun, even though the movie Kihyun was watching wasn’t really his style. Kihyun didn’t question, though. All of them had their bad days. But now Minhyuk was in little space, and it was a problem, because whenever the older felt little, Kihyun had little chance of not falling too.

On the bright side, though, Jooheon was home. Kihyun opened the younger’s room and… well, fuck.

‘Don’t panic, Kihyun.’ He told himself, trying to stay calm. Maybe Jooheon was somewhere else. He set off to search around the dorm, but at each door he opened and didn’t find Jooheon his anxiety grew a bit. Until he opened the last door and Jooheon wasn’t there, and Kihyun felt his own eyes watering.

 

Minhyuk was crying when Kihyun re-entered the living room. If there had been any chance of Kihyun holding onto his adult self, it was gone right there.

“Minmin! Minmin no cwy!”

Minhyuk turned around at the younger’s voice. He pouted.

“K-kihyunnie left Minmin alone!”

He complained, sniffing. Kihyun ran to the older, hugging him.

“Kiyunnie sowy! Kiyunnie no want to make Minmin sad.”

Minhyuk sniffed. Kihyun was back now, and he was hugging Minhyuk, and it felt nice. Maybe Kihyun really didn’t mean to leave. Maybe he just really needed to use the bathroom.

“Ok. Minmin believes Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun beamed at him. Minhyuk tried to smile back, but his head was still hurting and his tummy still felt weird, so it ended up a grimace. Kihyun frowned.

“Minmin ok?”

Minhyuk shook his head.

“Head hurts. And, and my tummy feels funny.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened.

“Minmin is sick?” Minhyuk pouted and nodded. “Don’t wowy, Minmin! Kiyunnie will help Minmin!”

And saying that he took Minhyuk’s hand and pulled him to the bathroom.

 

Kihyun helped Minhyuk sit on the bathroom floor, then turned on the water to fill it the tub.

“Minmin, put your hand in the water. Tell Kiyunnie if it’s good, ok?”

Minhyuk nodded and put his hand on the water. He shivered.

“K-Kihyunnie, too cold.”

Kihyun frowned and turned off the water, turning on the other tap. For a while it was ok, then Minhyuk squirmed.

“Too hot!”

He complained. Kihyun’s frown deepened and he put his own hand on the water, then turned on the first tap. The water, that had really been too hot, soon turned too cold. Kihyun turned off the tap and turned on the other, understanding the problem.

“Kiyunnie got it!”

He exclaimed, and proceeded to fill the tub, one tap at a time.

Once the tub was filled to the brim, Kihyun helped Minhyuk undress and then undressed himself. It took some time, but he finally managed, throwing his clothes on the floor and climbing into the tub, helping Minhyuk too. As soon as they were both sitting down – and half of the water had overflown –, Kihyun made Minhyuk turn around and lie on Kihyun.

“Close your eyes, Minmin.”

He instructed, picking up the shampoo – and dropping all the other bottle into the tub.

Minhyuk did as he was told and Kihyun squirted shampoo on his head. He carefully massaged the older’s head and hair, making Minhyuk relax against him. It wasn’t very effective, as a shower, but Minhyuk was pretty content with how it felt.

Kihyun soon rinsed the boy’s hair and proceeded to soap Minhyuk. He only really got the boy’s back and arms, then rinsed him once again. Then he got up and out of the bathtub.

“C’mon, Minmin.”

He said, offering a hand. Minhyuk took it, climbing out of the bathtub, and Kihyun led him out of the bathroom, leaving behind puddles as they walked around the house naked and soaked.

Once in their room, Kihyun dried Minhyuk softly, then picked up his fluffiest onesie. He helped the older get dressed and made Minhyuk sit down, proceeding to carefully – very carefully – brush the boy’s hair. Once he was done, he helped Minhyuk under the covers.

“Minmin stay. Kiyunnie will come back.”

Minhyuk nodded and closed his eyes. His head was still hurting and his tummy churning, but he felt… better, somehow. The bath had helped him feel refreshed, and Kihyun’s gentle hands had soothed him a bit.

He opened his eyes when Kihyun re-entered the room. The situation looked a bit dangerous, because Kihyun was balancing a cup of water and a bowl of fruit on his hands, trying not to drop anything, but the boy made it. He put the things on the floor and helped Minhyuk sit up.

“Minmin eat. Then Minmin sleep. Ok?”

Minhyuk nodded. He was feeling quite sleepy, actually. So he let Kihyun feed him and drank his water, and soon Kihyun was once again helping him under the covers. The younger made it to go away, but Minhyuk reached for him.

“Kihyunnie. Stay.”

Kihyunnie smiled and rushed to his bed, picking up Flopsy, then ran back and climbed on the bed with Minhyuk. Before they knew it, both boys were asleep.

 

Hoseok was the first one to go back to the dorms. It was two in the afternoon, and he wondered if the others had already eaten and if there was some left over for him. He frowned when he noticed how quiet the dorm was. Where was everyone?

He shrugged, deciding to leave his things in his room and look for something to eat. And then he passed the bathroom and backtracked, one eyebrow raised. The bathroom was flooded, two shirts and two pairs of pants and underwear lying on the floor, soaked. The tub was still full, all of the shampoo and conditioner bottles floating on the water.

Hoseok sighed. He picked everything up and started to drain the tub, before picking up the clothes from the floor. He recognized them as Kihyun’s and… were those Minhyuk’s? What the hell had happened?

Putting the clothes up to dry, he left the bathroom. He could dry the floor later, after he figured out what was going on.

He followed the little trail of feet, until he reached Kihyun’s room. Completely confused, he opened the door. And his heart melted. There was an empty bowl and a glass of water by the bed, but what caught Hoseok attention was the way Kihyun was sleeping curled up with Minhyuk. The older was hugging Kihyun as if the boy was a stuffed animal and Kihyun was sucking on his thumb and nuzzling against the older, Flopsy squished between them.

It was adorable, but Hoseok was even more confused now. They were little, why were they home alone when they were both little? It made no sense. Sighing, he picked up the bowl and water and headed to the kitchen, groaning as he saw the mess on the kitchen table. He cleaned that up, too, then picked up his phone.

 

After calling Hyunwoo and then calling Jooheon, Hoseok finally began to understand what had happened. It didn’t explain everything, though. Minhyuk may be little, but he wasn’t that young in little space. He was fully capable of preparing a bath and bathing and even bathing Kihyun without making such a mess.

And he wasn’t the best at serving food, but he wouldn’t make such a mess, Hoseok knew that. So he was still pretty confused as to what had happened.

His confusion was solved when, fifteen minutes later – after he’d dried the bathroom –, Kihyun appeared on the kitchen, rubbing his eye, Flopsy on his hand and his other thumb on his mouth.

“Appa?”

Hoseok looked up and smiled. No matter what, he always felt happy when he saw little Kihyun.

“Hey, baby. How are you?”

Kihyun stumbled towards him and climbed on Hoseok’s lap, pressing a kiss to the boy’s cheek and snuggling on his arms. Hoseok laughed and kissed the top of the boy’s head.

“Kiyunnie good. But Minmin sick.”

Hoseok frowned. Minhyuk was sick? Now that explained a lot.

“He’s sick? Poor thing. What is he feeling?”

Kihyun yawned.

“Kiyunnie taked cawe of Minmin. Minmin have a tummy ache. A-and head huwting.”

Hoseok frowned. That didn’t sound good.

“You took care of him, angel?”

Kihyun nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! Kiyunnie bathed Minmin, then feeded Minmin. Then, then we sleeped.”

“You did all that? Very good, baby! Well done. But don’t you think you should have called appa or one of the others?”

Kihyun frowned.

“Called? With phone?”

And Hoseok cursed himself, because they’d never taught little Kihyun how to use a phone in case of an emergency.

“Ah, we’ll talk about that later. Now how about we get Minmin and help him feel better?”

Kihyun perked up, smiling.

 

When Jooheon arrived, apologizing profusely for not telling them he was going out, things were already under control. Kihyun wasn’t feeling little anymore, and Minhyuk was on his way to recovery from a light cold.

“Don’t worry, Jooheonie. Hyunwoo should have checked if there was really someone else home, Min should have told us he was sick, and Kihyun should have told us he was feeling little. Even if it was just a little bit.”

Kihyun blushed and crossed his arms, and Jooheon smiled a bit.

“I didn’t think I would fall in little space. I wouldn’t have, if Min hadn’t.”

Jooheon and Hoseok chuckled.

“It doesn’t matter now. Just tell us, next time. Ok?”

Kihyun nodded at the older and Hoseok ruffled his hair. Little or not, Kihyun was his dongsaeng.

“How is Min hyung?”

Asked Jooheon, putting his bag aside.

“Better. He took medicine and now he’s resting. He’s still in little space.”

Jooheon nodded.

“Was he too much trouble?”

Hoseok shook his head.

“Kihyun did most of the hard work. He bathed Min and fed him, so I only had to give him some medicine when he woke up.”

Jooheon raised an eyebrow.

“You helped him? In little space?”

Kihyun shrugged.

“He looked so sad…”

Hoseok and Jooheon laughed and Hoseok pinched Kihyun’s cheek.

“My helpful little boy.”

Kihyun blushed and shoved the older away.

“Hyung! I’m not a little kid.”

He complained, and he knew his pout contradicted his words, but he couldn’t help it. Hoseok only laughed.

“I’m just teasing you, Ki. You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.”

Kihyun opened his mouth to reply, but didn’t have the chance.

“Hyung, stop teasing my boyfriend.”

Kihyun looked up, smiling as he spotted Changkyun walking towards him.

The maknae pinched Hoseok’s arm playfully, then pressed a kiss to Kihyun’s lips, sitting next to the older.

“Hey. I missed you.”

Kihyun snorted.

“You’re so cheesy, Kyun.”

He said, but his cheeks were red and he was smiling. Jooheon made a gagging sound.

“You two are disgusting. I’m out.”

And saying that he left, making the other three laugh.

“Well, I think you’re adorable. But I should check on Min, so have fun.”

Kihyun waved him away and then turned to Changkyun, who was smiling.

“Kiss me?”

Kihyun rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. All in all, it was a good day.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is this? Is this an update? I thought I'd never see one again!
> 
> Anyways, hi, guys. Sorry for the long hiatus, my life was a mess, and I needed to let this story rest for a bit. But here is a new chapter, and I think I'll be updating more often now!
> 
> If you want to read the other side of this story (Wanna One's pov), here it is: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13464336/chapters/33248112

The door to their room opened. Hoseok looked up, startled, and then spotted a boy by the door. He recognized the boy. Kang Daniel, nation’s centre, 1st place in Produce 101. He opened his mouth to ask the boy if he needed anything. And then Daniel’s lower lip began to tremble and he broke down crying. Needless to say, they were all at a loss of what to do.  
Hyunwoo was the first one to recover from the shock. Hoseok watched, amazed, the way their usually ‘cold and emotionless’ leader picked up the crying boy and hugged him tightly, closing the door behind them. The image he had of Daniel had just been completely turned upside down.

Daniel was clinging to Hyunwoo like a baby koala would to its mother. He was crying, little sobs leaving his mouth, and it was a heart-breaking scene. Hyunwoo was holding him tightly, caressing the boy’s hair and shushing him. Hoseok could relate. He felt like picking the kid up and comforting him until he was smiling and laughing.  
Hyunwoo shushed him and bounced him for a bit, until Daniel’s sobs started dying down a little.

“Hey. Are you feeling better?” Asked Hyunwoo. The boy nodded. Hyunwoo smiled. “I’ll put you down on the couch, ok?”

He asked. Daniel didn’t seem too fond of the idea, but let the older do it. As soon as he was put down, though, his thumb went to his mouth, and soon Daniel was sucking on it. Hoseok was curious about what was going on. Could it be…? He approached the boy.

“Hey, Daniel. I’m Hoseok, from Monsta X.”

The boy tilted his head.

“Mo-mon… mon… mon’ta s?”

Hoseok’s eyes widened. He turned to Hyunwoo. The leader was staring too. All of the members were. Was it possible…?

“Monsta X. It’s my group. I sing with my friends.”

Explained Hoseok. Daniel’s eyes lit up.

“Niel sing in gwoup too!”

He said, seeming proud of himself. Hoseok stared at him, eyes shining. And then Minhyuk screeched and Daniel startled, looking up with wide eyes. Hoseok glared at Minhyuk. 

“Min, you’re scaring him!”

Minhyuk only smiled wider.

“Sorry, hyung, but he’s so cute! Look, he’s even sucking on his thumb! Just like Ki!”

Hoseok rolled his eyes and smiled. He knew all of them were thinking the same. A little. From another group. He turned back to Daniel, noticing the boy had gone cross-eyed trying to look at his thumb. Once he managed to take a look, he took his thumb out and pouted.

“Niel no tute.”

He said. Hoseok couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face, ignoring Minhyuk’s giggling.

“You, mister, are adorable.”

He said, knowing from his experience with Kihyun that denying a compliment was a way of getting more compliments.

As expected, Daniel blushed and giggled as Hoseok pinched his cheeks. And then his pout came back.

“S-seok… ‘yung?”

Hoseok frowned, but before Daniel could finish his sentence there was someone throwing themselves on Hoseok’s lap. The boy looked down and smiled.

“Appa~”

Whined Kihyun. Hoseok laughed at how easily the younger boy fell in little space when there was another little around.

“Hey, baby. Didn’t see you there.”

Kihyun covered his face, giggling, then took his hands out of his face yelling ‘boo!’

Hoseok acted startled, getting Kihyun to giggle, and then Daniel was laughing too, and it was adorable. Kihyun then seemed to notice the boy on the couch and looked up, tilting his head. Daniel blushed and shyly hid his face. Hoseok smiled fondly.

“Appa, baby?”

Hoseok nodded.

“Yes, love. He’s just like you. Niel, can you look at Seok hyung?” Daniel slowly looked up, taking his hands from his face. Hoseok wanted to squish him. “Niel, this is Kihyunnie. Kihyunnie, Niel. Why don’t you two play for a bit? We brought some of Kihyunnie’s toys with us, just in case.”

Daniel seemed to hesitate for a bit, but soon nodded.

 

“I can’t believe we’ve found another little.”

Said Hoseok. Changkyun and Jooheon were playing with the two boys, and Hoseok, Minhyuk and Hyungwon were watching. Hyunwoo had gone looking for Wanna One’s leader.

Hyungwon was smiling widely.

“Hyung, look how cute he is! He looks like a baby bunny. And he seems younger than Ki!”

Minhyuk and Hoseok chuckled at Hyungwon’s excitement. The boy was right. Daniel did look like a baby bunny, and his speech difficulties were more pronounced than Kihyun’s. It was adorable, and Daniel seemed to be fully comfortable playing around, much different from how scared he had been at first.

“He really is adorable. Look at his little teeth! I wanna squish his cheeks.”

Said Minhyuk. Hoseok chuckled.

“Are you really not feeling little?”

He asked. Minhyuk shrugged.

“Not really. I don’t usually fall in little space because of other littles. That’s Ki’s thing.”

Hoseok nodded. Minhyuk was right. Kihyun had fallen in little space so easily it was actually surprising. But it shouldn’t be, because seeing things related to little space often triggered him.

“Well, I don’t know about you two, but I’ll go enjoy the baby bunny while his hyungs don’t come.”

Said Hyungwon. Hoseok and Minhyuk chuckled as the boy got up, plopping down next to Daniel and tickling the boy, getting the cutest little giggles out of him.

 

Hoseok was amusedly watching Kihyun feed grapes to Daniel when the door to the room opened. He looked back, snorting at the look on Wanna One’s leader’s face. Him and the other boys who were with him were staring at the scene with wide eyes, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, and Hoseok couldn’t help but to laugh.

He got up as Hyunwoo explained something to the boys – probably why their centre was being fed grapes by Kihyun – and went over to the group.

“Hello there, I’m Hoseok.”

He said, smiling. The boys immediately scrambled to bow as Jisung shook his hand.

“Hello, Sunbae. Nice to meet you.” He said, formally. “I’m Jisung and these are Seongwoo and Daehwi.”

Hoseok bowed to the other two boys, who bowed back despite having already bowed. Hoseok laughed. He wasn’t used to getting this much respect.

“Hey, you guys don’t need to be so tense.” He said. “C’mon, have a seat.”

 

It didn’t take very long for Daniel to notice his friends in the room. As soon as he was done eating his eyes started searching the room, and soon they spotted Jisung. Hoseok watched as his eyes widened.

“Daddy.”

Stuttered the boy. Hoseok’s heart break as Daniel’s eyes watered and he raised his arms towards Jisung, lower lip trembling. In a second Jisung was up, rushing to the boy. He picked Daniel up and hugged him tightly.

“Hey, baby boy.”

He said, and Hoseok wondered if he sounded that soft when he talked to Kihyun and Minhyuk.

Daniel’s cries were breaking Hoseok’s heart, and everyone else’s too, if the looks on the others’ faces were anything to go by.

“N-niel thinted daddy leaved ‘im.”

Cried the boy, fisting his hands on Jisung’s clothes as the older hugged him tighter. Hoseok could see the hurt and guilt on Jisung’s eyes.

“Oh, baby. Daddy would never do that. Never, ok? You’re our precious baby boy, Niel. We love you.”

Daniel was clearly getting Jisung’s shirt all wet and dirty, but the older boy didn’t seem to care at all.

“Niel wove daddy and papa and, and evewyone too.”

He said, a bit calmer. Jisung had started rocking him softly.

“We love you, baby. We love you a lot.”

He said. Hoseok felt a smile tug on his lips as he noticed Kihyun standing up and trying to unclip his pacifier from the clip on his shirt. He managed to and rushed to Jisung, pulling on his clothes and handing him the item.

“Daddy and appa tell Kiyunnie that sucking on thumb bad. Niel huwt his thumb.”

Said Kihyun, drawing attention to the fact that Daniel was sucking on his thumb. He thrust the pacifier towards Jisung.

Jisung smiled and looked at Hyunwoo, questioning. The boy shrugged. Jisung laughed.

“Well, can you give it to Niel, then?”

Kihyun beamed at him, proud. He walked around Jisung and looked at Daniel.

“Niel. Kiyunnie bwinged this for Niel.”

Daniel stared for a second, before taking his thumb from his mouth and accepting the pacifier.

“Fank you.”

He mumbled. Jisung seemed to notice how tired the boy was and gestured towards the couch, sitting down when Hyunwoo nodded. he nudged Daniel.

“Niel, look who’s here too.”

Daniel’s eyes twinkled as he spotted Daehwi. He immediately made grabby hands at the younger, who laughed and picked him up.

“Hey, Niel.”

He said, chuckling when Daniel nuzzled against him like a kitten. Hoseok watched amused. And he thought Kihyun was clingy.

“Hwihwi.”

Said Daniel, and Daehwi pressed a kiss to his head.

“Hey, baby.”

He said. Daniel nuzzled him again and Hoseok was ready to melt. Then Daniel turned to the other boy – Seongwoo, if Hoseok wasn’t mistaken – and pouted.

Seongwoo pouted back. Hoseok filed that idea for when Kihyun was upset.

“Sorry, baby boy. Woo was really busy and didn’t notice you wanted to play. Can you forgive Woo?” Daniel crossed his arms. Seongwoo put his hands together in front of his face. “Pretty, pretty, pretty please?”

He said, and it got Daniel to giggle.

“Niel fow’ive.”

Said Daniel, probably hurting Daehwi in his hurry to go to Seongwoo. Hoseok let them have their moment, turning back to look at what Kihyun was showing him.

“Daddy! Tiyunnie weawy nice!”

He heard Daniel say, after a few seconds. He turned back to them. Kihyun did too, beaming. Jisung chuckled.

“Yeah? Did you have fun together?”

He asked. Daniel shook his head fiercely, and so did Kihyun, and they looked too adorable. Hoseok laughed.

“We pwayed powews!”

Said Daniel. Jisung raised an eyebrow.

“Powers? How do you play that?”

Instead of Daniel, though, Kihyun answered.

“Niel and Kiyunnie have powers! Kiyunnie have fire power and Niel have ice power!”

Daniel nodded enthusiastically.

“And, and we save the wowd!”

Both boys giggled and Hoseok was pretty sure he did have the same fond expression as Jisung at the moment.

“That sounds really nice.” He said, making both boys beam. Then he looked at his phone and sighed. “But we really have to go now.”

Daniel and Kihyun looked absolutely heartbroken.

“Go?”

Asked Daniel, a pout on his lips. Kihyun quickly ran to his new friend and Daniel wiggled out of Seongwoo’s embrace, letting Kihyun pull him into a tight hug. To Hoseok it was obvious that Jisung was supressing a smile. To the littles it wasn’t.

“Yes, we have to go. See, Kihyunnie, our other members are waiting for us.”

Said Jisung, softly, kneeling in front of the boys. Kihyun jutted his lower lip out more, and Hoseok smirked at how taken aback Jisung looked at the boy’s cuteness.

“But… but Niel and Kiyunnie play…”

Started Kihyun, and Hoseok decided to intervene before Kihyun won Jisung over.

“Kihyunnie, Niel has to go now. But how about this: we can meet another day. Then the two of you can play all day. What do you say?”

He addressed Kihyun, but he knew the other group’s leader would understand the question hidden in that.

“Yes, we can schedule a play date for you. And maybe Jihoonie can come too.”

He said. Hoseok took note of the new name. So they had two littles.

“Yeah, Kihyunnie. And Minmin can play with you too. Do you want that?”

Kihyun seemed to be thinking about it. Then he sighed and let go of Daniel.

“Appa, pinky pwomise?”

Hoseok smiled and hooked his pinky with Kihyun’s. Daniel turned to Jisung.

“Pinty pwomise.”

He said, and Hoseok laughed internally at the influence Kihyun had on the boy. Then, after Jisung promised, Daniel turned to Kihyun and pouted. Kihyun hugged him and pressed a messy kiss to Daniel’s cheek, making the boy laugh.

“Niel and Kiyunnie play again, Niel. Kiyunnie pwomise.”

Daniel nodded and stood up. Jisung stood up too and held the boy’s hand. He made to take the pacifier from Daniel, but Hoseok stopped him.

“You can keep it. If you put his mask over it no one will notice.”

Jisung tilted his head and did as instructed, staring fascinated at the result. Hoseok smiled proudly.

“That’s actually amazing. Thank you so much, for everything.” He said. Hoseok smiled at him, and the other boys did too. Jisung seemed grateful. He turned to Daniel. “Say bye, Niel.”

Daniel looked at the seven others standing there and waved shyly, soon hiding his face on Jisung’s chest. The boy’s from Monsta X laughed and Kihyun giggled.

“Appa, Niel cute.”

Hoseok smiled and Jisung chuckled.

“Yes, baby, he’s really cute.”

Jisung made his way out, thanking and saying goodbye to everyone.

 

As soon as the others were outside, Kihyun pouted. Hoseok noticed the tantrum from afar and picked the boy up.

“So, how about Kyunnie tell you a story, Kihyunnie? I heard he has a really good one prepared.”

He said. Kihyun immediately perked up, the sadness of missing his friend quickly disappearing as he looked at Changkyun expectantly.

Changkyun smiled at him, opening his arms, then glared at Hoseok once Kihyun was settled between his legs.

As the maknae made up a story about a dwarf, a fairy and a dolphin, Hoseok laughed, already making plans to get Kihyun and Daniel together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I do plan on making other joint chapters, but this is the only one which will have both sides of the story. When Ki and Niel interact I'll post it either on this story or on Niel's story, because I'm bad at telling the same story twice like this hehe
> 
> I'll make sure to let you guys know if there is a Kihyun chapter on Niel's story, though, and the other way around too.
> 
> And what's your opinion, guys, who do you think is younger, Niel or Kihyunnie?


	36. Autumn Part. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you erica for suggesting this!!!

“Appa, pwease!”

Hoseok sighed, giving up on pretending to be asleep and opening his eyes. He was greeted by Kihyun’s huge smile behind his pacifier, and he chuckled. There were definitely worse ways of being woken up.

“Morning, baby.”

Kihyun beamed and him and bounced on the bed.

“Appa, you pwomised!”

He said, whining. Hoseok raised an eyebrow, raking his brain to discover what, exactly, Kihyun was talking about.

“Baby, appa’s memory is very short. Can you help him remember what he promised?”

He asked. Kihyun looked scandalized.

“Appa! Leaves!”

He said, and Hoseok finally put two and two together. He internally groaned.

Autumn had come with all of its strength a few days earlier. The leaves had started turning orange and red, and soon there were leaves everywhere on the ground. Hoseok hadn’t even noticed this, of course. It had been a long time since he had been amazed by natural phenomena such as leaves changing colours and falling from the trees. Kihyun, on the other hand…

They had been on their way back from a schedule when Changkyun had noticed Kihyun squirming and nudged Hoseok. The older had looked over, only to see Kihyun with his face pressed against the window of the car, biting on his lip and frowning like he always did when he was trying not to slip into little space. Hoseok had chuckled with Changkyun and gestured towards the boy. Changkyun had moved closer to Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie, what are you looking at?”

He had asked. And that had been enough to send Kihyun straight into little space.

“Daddy, look! Leaves!”

He had said, excited. Hyungwon had turned around, surprised at Kihyun’s excitement and sudden drop into little space. Hoseok and Changkyun had looked outside, trying to understand what Kihyun meant.

“What about the leaves, baby boy?”

Changkyun asked. Kihyun whined, almost bouncing fro excitement.

“They owange!”

He had said, and it had taken all Hoseok had not to reach over Changkyun and pinch Kihyun’s cheeks.

Changkyun had laughed, and the others in the car were now all focused on Kihyun.

“They are, baby boy. It’s very pretty, right?”

Changkyun had said. Kihyun had squealed.

“Leaf pile!”

He had said, as an answer.

Since that day, Kihyun had been obsessed with leaf piles. Once he had gotten out of headspace he had been embarrassed, and had refused to talk about it. But whenever he saw a leaf pile, whether he was in little space or not, it was obvious to the others how much Kihyun wanted to play with them.

A few days later, when there were three times more leaves on the ground, Kihyun had fallen into little space again. Hyunwoo had mentioned something about Halloween costumes that they were supposed to wear to an event, and Kihyun had immediately squealed and started babbling about costumes and witches and ghosts. And then he had started talking, once again, about the leaves outside, and Hoseok had made the impulsive decision of promising Kihyun to take him to play with the leaves when they had a free day.

And now here they were.

“Are you sure you want to go outside, Kihyunnie? It’s cold, and…”

Kihyun pouted and crossed his arms, looking at Hoseok angrily. ‘Don’t laugh’, Hoseok told himself.

“Appa. Leaves.”

He said, completely serious, and Hoseok had burst out laughing, pulling Kihyun down and tickling him. Kihyun squealed and giggled, and Hoseok pressed a kiss to his cheek before sitting up.

“Ok, ok. Let’s get you dressed and then we can go out.”

He had gotten up, throwing a pillow at Hyungwon because he refused to be the only one awake at eight in the morning on a break day. Then he had dressed Kihyun in an orange and white stripped t-shirt and jeans overalls, and taken the boy to have breakfast.

He left Kihyun on the table with Flopsy, hearing the boy talking to his stuffed toy animatedly about how they would make leaf piles and jump on them, as he made breakfast. Then he had placed Kihyun’s dinosaur plate in front of him and given him his plastic utensils, before picking up the boy’s sippy cup and filling it with apple juice.

Except Kihyun didn’t immediately begin to eat. Instead, he looked up at Hoseok and pouted. Hoseok chuckled.

“Someone is lazy today.”

He had said, pinching Kihyun’s cheeks and sitting next to the boy, picking up Kihyun’s spoon and starting to feed the little.

They were almost done when Hyungwon walked into the room. Hoseok smiled at him, going back to feeding Kihyun when the boy whined.

“You’re up early.”

Said Hoseok. Hyungwon glared.

“I hate you.”

He said, and Hoseok laughed.

“Get the others up. They’ll complain later if they miss Kihyunnie playing outside.”

He said. And it was true. No one wanted to wake up early on break day, but they were all whipped for little Kihyun, and seeing the little playing with leaves would be way too cute to pass. Hyungwon groaned, but got up.

“Appa, eated all!”

Kihyun said. Hoseok laughed and nodded.

“You did, very good, baby.”

Kihyun beamed.

“Outside?”

He asked, hope shining in his eyes. Hoseok smiled.

“Ok, let’s go outside.”

Kihyun practically ran to the door.

Hoseok picked up one of his lighter coats and put it on Kihyun, before opening the door. The boy was almost buzzing with energy, and Hoseok couldn’t wait to see how happy he would be outside. He opened the door.

The first thing Kihyun did was run outside and look around, the biggest smile ever on his face. Hoseok laughed and joined him, Hyungwon following soon after. Then he grabbed the rake that was resting against the wall and started raking the leaves to make a pile. Kihyun, noticing the action, squealed and clapped.

“Flopsy! We pway in leaves!”

He said, squeezing his stuffed toy way to hard. Hoseok laughed and nudged Hyungwon.

“Distract him for a bit so I can actually get some leaves before he starts jumping around.”

He said. Hyungwon laughed softly and called Kihyun.

“Kihyunnie, do you want to help hyung find acorns?”

He asked. Kihyun’s eyes lit up.

 

They had a full morning. Kihyun laughed the whole time, jumping on the piles Hoseok made and picking up acorns and rocks to give to the others. The boys watched him, amused and endeared smiles on their faces. Kihyun looked so happy it was hard not to feel happy just by looking at him.

By the end of the morning each of them had been gifted a few rocks, leaves and acorns. Kihyun was lying on the ground, talking to Flopsy, clearly tired, and Hoseok decided it was time to go in.

“Kihyunnie, let’s go inside, baby?”

He said, approaching the boy. Kihyun looked up at him and pouted.

“Appa, stay outside.”

He said, eyes pleading. Hoseok laughed.

“Ok, we can stay a bit longer. But come here, I don’t want you lying on the ground.”

Kihyun obeyed, lifting his arms for Hoseok to pick him up. The older laughed and picked the boy up, and Kihyun wrapped his arms around him, lying his head on Hoseok’s shoulder and gripping Flopsy with one hand.

“I’ll go inside make us some hot chocolate.”

Hyunwoo said. Minhyuk and Jooheon, both still quite sleepy, followed the leader inside. That left Hoseok, Changkyun and Hyungwon outside with Kihyun.

“Hyung.”

Hyungwon called softly. Hoseok looked at him to see Hyungwon gesturing at Kihyun. Hoseok turned his head slightly and smiled as he saw Kihyun sleepily sucking on his thumb. He smiled. Changkyun chuckled.

“I’ll go get his pacifier.”

He said, and got up. Hoseok sighed happily.

 

After drinking the chocolate Hyunwoo had made, Kihyun fell asleep. Hoseok let him nap on the couch as he rested in his room, letting himself enjoy the chilly autumn air cuddling with his boyfriend. Minhyuk and Hyunwoo had gone out on a ‘date’, and Jooheon and Changkyun had left to pick up a few things they had decided to get for Kihyun as a surprise.

And so it was only Hoseok, Hyungwon and sleeping Kihyun, and the dorm was quiet, and Hoseok felt so happy. In a few weeks they would have another comeback, and things would be hectic, but for now he could breathe and relax.

“What are you thinking about, hyung?”

Hyungwon asked. Hoseok pulled the younger closer and pecked his lips.

“I’m just happy to have you guys with me.”

He said. Hyungwon snorted.

“Cheesy.”

He said, but there was no denying the fondness in his voice.

“I love you, Won.”

He said. He felt Hyungwon smile against his head.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think?


End file.
